Posts By Dave Bonta
“Films based on youth writing” sought for the Poetry Projection Project
In line with Moving Poems’ focus on children’s poetry films this past week, here’s a call for entries for films based on poems by children and youth:
The Poetry Projection Project: A WritersCorps Film Event
Entry Deadline: March 1, 2013, 11 p.m. PST
Screening: April 2013 (date & location TBA)The Poetry Projection Project is an annual video contest held by WritersCorps, an award-winning creative writing program for youth. WritersCorps calls on filmmakers and video artists of all ages to create work based on youth writing. Videos will be screened at an event during National Poetry Month in April 2013 and online at WritersCorps.org.
WritersCorps will award three $250 cash prizes:
One prize to the best film made by an adult age 23 and over
One prize to the best film made by a young person age 17-22
One prize to the best film made by a young person age 16 and underEntries will be juried by special guest juror, filmmaker H.P. Mendoza.
In keeping with WritersCorps’ mission of helping youth through creative expression, the Poetry Projection Project engages filmmakers to explore the power of young people’s words and voices.
Click through for the guidelines.
(h/t: ZEBRA Poetry Film on Twitter)
Two-part interview with “ambassador of cinepoetry” George Aguilar in the Atticus Review
This is not to be missed: Matt Mullins interviews George Aguilar at Atticus Review: Part 1 and Part 2. From Part 1, here’s Aguilar’s take on what makes a compelling videopoem:
The core elements I find most compelling are works that are multi-layered both visually and poetically. They usually feel experimental yet are supported by an expert sense of editing, sound, timing and tone. These types of works draw me in deeply and often leave me wondering what I just saw but also wanting to see it again. Sometimes I don’t get the full meaning of the work until after I’ve watched it a few dozen times. Even then, I still might feel there is something else new to catch the next time I see it. Of course the viewing of it over and over again feels “joyous” even though it hasn’t changed. Isn’t that the essence of the poetic? I also enjoy works that exude a sense of passion and inspiration, whether it is dark or light-hearted.
The breadth and depth of Aguilar’s understanding of cinepoetry/videopoetry and its historical origins are impressive. I’ll be sure to share some of the films he recommends at Moving Poems in the coming weeks.
“We add meaning to culture by remixing it”: Rick Prelinger on the value of preexisting material
Rick Prelinger, creator of the invaluable Prelinger Archive of ephemeral films which so many videopoets have drawn upon, has issued a newly updated and expanded version of his evolving manifesto at Contents magazine: “On the Virtues of Preexisting Material.” (There’s also an interview with Rick and Megan Shaw Prelinger in the same issue.) There are so many good points in this essay, it’s hard to resist the temptation to quote it all. But here are a few passages that stood out for me:
I don’t at all mean to criticize experimentation, but I think we need to experiment harder. Let’s ask more of ourselves rather than asking more of our software. And, while this is really hard when working with appropriated media, I’d suggest that we stop trying so hard to criticize existing media forms, and let them die by themselves. Instead, what might future forms look like? In other words, redeem recycling from a reactive mode and move it into a formative mode. Can we think about recycling as a point of origin?
My partner Megan and I run a research library in San Francisco that we built around our personal book, periodical, and ephemera collections. At some point it got a life of its own and started growing like mushrooms in Mendocino. We joke about how it’s a library full of bad ideas; I characterize it as 98% false consciousness. It’s full of outdated information, extinct procedures, self-serving explanations, ideas that never passed the smell test, and lies. And yet that’s where you find the truth.
Archives promise the possibility of a return to original, unmediated documents. I think this is part of their attraction to artists—the idea that we can touch and appropriate records without also having to inherit the corrupting crust that they’ve accreted over time. This is an Edenic fantasy, but it can also be a productive point of origin.
We add meaning to culture by remixing it. Putting something in a new context helps you see it with new eyes; it’s like bringing your partner home to the parents for the first time, or letting a dog loose to run in the waves.
While not shrinking from remixing the present, let’s enjoy the freedom that comes with working with public domain material. The public domain is the coolest neighborhood on the frontier. Use it or lose it.
Read the whole thing. And if you’d like to get into remixing public-domain and Creative Commons-licensed material to create your own videopoetic works, see our compilation of web resources for videopoem makers.
Celebrate London Poetry Systems’ 5th birthday Feb. 16 with Alastair Cook and Swoon
London Poetry Systems “came into this world when a few friends decided to put on a kind of club night mixing poetry, music and live visuals. We wanted to see poetry in a new context, one that made sense to us, that spoke of our generation.” They’ve emerged as one of the most vital spaces for contemporary filmpoetry and videopoetry screening in the UK. On February 16, they’ll mark their 5th birthday with appearances by, and live mixes from, Scottish filmpoem maker Alastair Cook and Belgian videopoet Mark Neys, A.K.A. Swoon, as well as the composer Luca Nasciuti, whose work features in the soundtracks of a number of Cook’s filmpoems. Other poets and musicians will perform as well. The location is Edel Assanti, near Hyde Park. Get the complete details from their Facebook event page, or, in a somewhat more abbreviated form, from their website.
All Tangled Up: children’s filmpoetry from Scotland
http://vimeo.com/84665976
The result of the first Filmpoem Children’s Workshop led by Alastair Cook for North Light Arts. The film includes five poems read by their authors: Kitty, Alasdair, Andrew, Ben, and Nancy. Ben Dorin James was the cinematographer, and Filmpoem is credited as the director.
Suddenly by Tim Verdinek
I wasn’t able to ascertain anything about the author, but I’m guessing he’s Slovenian like the kids who made this film. ZVVIKS, “institute for film and audiovisual production based in Ljubljana, Slovenia,” seems to regularly sponsor animation workshops. Here’s the complete video description from Vimeo:
Short animated film based on a poem by Tim Verdinek.
“With some assistance from their mentor, the complete film was created by attendees of the animated film workshop for children, students & youth.”
Story, designs, animation and music: Urša Halilovič, Aleksa Milovanović
Mentor: Simon Hudolin – Salči
Producers: Matija Šturm and Kolja Saksida
Sound Borja Močnik
Colour corection: Teo Rižnar
Production: ZVVIKS 2012
Co producer: Kulturni dom Slovenj Gradec
Financier: Maribor 2012 – Evropska prestolnica kulture, Slovenski filmski center – javna agencija Republike Slovenije
A Tree is Everything by Manasvi Bantawa
Manasvi Bantawa was a 3rd Grade student, so 8 or 9 years old, when this animation was made two years ago by Alex McClelland, working from a poster design by Zack Montrunecs. It’s part of the Healing Stanzas project:
Healing Stanzas is a collaborative project between Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center and Glyphix design studio. This series combines the creative talents of KSU Visual Communication Design students with student writers (grades 3–12), health care providers, medical students, patients, and veterans to encourage dialogue about the connection between art and medicine, writing and healing.
Giant by Orianne Breakspear
A film by Luca Dicorato and Takanori Yoshiro. Dicorato notes:
Giant is a poem written and performed by 12 years old Orianne Breakspear.
We decided to animate this piece by employing a mixture of techniques, mainly cutout animation. We favoured images from old books and magazines as well as from the web in order to establish the vintage look.The music is from Kevin MacLeod
In 2011, Orianne Breakspear won the Brit Writers Award for poetry in the Under 16s category.
Poem About Big BIGMOUSE by Ludmila Ulanova
I’m spotlighting children’s poetry films and videos this week, a diverse collection of works by children as well as film-poems made by adults for children. This is an outstanding example of the latter. About BIGMOUSE (Про Мыху), animated by Constantin Arephyeff (or Arefiev, in a more standard Romanization) won the award of the children’s jury at the 5th ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in 2010. This is the English version narrated by Stephen Coates, who collaborated with the author and a couple of other people on the translation. There’s also a Russian version.
As in many Eastern European poetry animations, the text is used as a jumping-off point for a different, more elaborate story-line. However, this also feels very familiar in the context of children’s literature, where the artwork in illustrated books often does much more than just illustrate.
Call for submissions: 6th annual Trevigliopoesia Festival
The Trevigliopoesia Festival has been held in Treviglio – Bergamo (near Milan, Italy) every year since 2008, and includes a competition called La Parola Imaginata. From their website:
TRP – Trevigliopoesia is VIDEOPOETRY: Video-Art, Video Documentary and Poetry Film.
The word as language but also a symbol that becomes an element as the expression of thoughts, images, visions of the poets and their lives. Combining inspirations and influences from the field of philosophy, music, theatre and literature the result of the artistic creation meet the public showing the perfect union between POEM and VIDEO.Under the patronage of the Office of Culture of the town of Treviglio, the arts association Nuvole in viaggio advertises the sixth edition of the video poetry competition LA PAROLA IMMAGINATA.
March 1 is the deadline for submissions. Download a PDF of the rules from their website. (And don’t forget that Italy’s other international poetry film festival, DOCtorClip in Rome, is also still open for submissions.)
What is Life? by John Clare
https://vimeo.com/57929732
This is the work of Sao Paulo-based writer Juliana Mendonça. According to her description at Vimeo, it was
Inspired by New York City fall and John Clare’s poem.
This was my first time in the city and my first time shooting with a Go Pro only.Made 100% with a Go Pro Hero 3 Black Edition.
Poem: What is Life by John Clare.
Music: Hægt, kemur ljósi› by Ólafur Arnalds.
