Posts By Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta is a poet, editor, and web publisher from the Appalachian mountains of central Pennsylvania.

“Fire Won’t Eat Me Up”: Manal Al-Sheikh

On 17 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Documentary, Interview videos
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I really hate to say this but this is the truth, there is no Iraq now.
—Manal Al-Sheikh

From director Roxana Vilk and Al Jazeera’s Artscape: Poets of Protest series, here’s a short (25-minute) bio pic from 2012 featuring the Iraqi poet Manal Al-Sheikh and her life in exile with her two children in Norway. Interspersed throughout the film are a number of short poems treated filmpoem style, with the poet’s recitation in Arabic accompanied by on-screen English translation. Ian Dodds was the cameraman, and Ling Lee edited. Vilk has a mini essay accompanying the film on Vimeo that is worth reproducing in full:

FILMMAKER’S VIEW: Keeping the protest alive

By Roxana Vilk

I was really keen that we have an Iraqi poet in the Poets of Protest series. When I read Manal Al Sheikh’s fiery work I was immediately captivated, as she seemed to truly encapsulate the essence of a poet and activist combined.

As Manal says: “When you are a person from a country like Iraq you automatically have some anger inside you and this anger, if you are a poet or a writer, you can transfer it as an explosion in your text.”

Manal is originally from Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity and a place renowned for its multi-cultural society. Since the 2003 invasion, Nineveh has been the scene of some of the bloodiest and most violent fighting.

“I witnessed everything, the bombing, the struggle between the parties, all these make you angry, so I protest with my text,” the poet explains.

However, Manal’s work as an outspoken poet and journalist in Iraq was fraught with danger and her life was constantly under threat. She had to make the heart-breaking decision to leave her country and her family and seek refuge with her two young children in Norway.

“For me as a female writer in Iraq, just being female it was of course a challenge; just to live there in a normal way with my thoughts and my ambitions for a future. But really I can say the main change in my life was becoming a single mother in that society. Suddenly I found myself a widow, a very young widow,” Manal reflects.

I travelled with Ian Dodds, the director of photography, to Stavanger in Norway in January 2012, during the depths of the Norwegian winter, as temperatures were plummeting to an unforgiving -20 degrees Celsius. Filming the stark contrast of the snowy cold white landscapes against Manal’s stories of Iraq made her struggle to have her voice heard all the more poignant.

At a time when it is dangerous to speak out in Iraq, especially as a woman, Manal had to travel half way around the world to keep her protest alive.

Our film follows Manal closely as she works through crafting a new poem, before presenting it to a public audience. Manal is a truly extraordinary poet, brave and defiant, at a time when Iraqi female voices are increasingly being silenced.

About the series:

Poets of Protest reflects the poet’s view of the change sweeping the Middle East and North Africa through its intimate profiles of six contemporary writers as they struggle to lead, to interpret and to inspire.

Poetry lives and breathes in the Middle East as in few other places.

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Telegenic by Erica Goss

On 16 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 1 Comments - Author-made videopoems
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It’s Long War week at Moving Poems, and (appropriately perhaps) it’s going to be an unusually long week, with videos right through the weekend. That is in part because so far we’ve heard only from men, which doesn’t seem right, given that wars disproportionately impact women. Today, the California poet and videopoetry critic Erica Goss helps us right the balance with her first author-made videopoem. But according to the description on Vimeo, it won’t be her last:

This is the first in a series of three videos based on poems I’ve written about the subject of war. The word “telegenic” was given to me from a radio broadcast I heard during the 2014 attack on Gaza. Much of the poem was influenced by an encounter I had with an Iraq war veteran at a poetry writing event in San Jose, California. The images of children, sunrise and the woman are different from the usual images one associates with war: they are intended to remind us of what is lost to violence.

The music is guitarist Sam Eigen’s interpretation of the Rite of Spring theme. Sam composed the music specifically for this video, with my guidance. The music was recorded at Keith Holland Studio in Los Gatos, California. Don Peters, my husband, is the narrator; it took us many recordings to get his voice right for the video. I wanted someone with a “normal” voice – i.e., not a “poetry voice” – to tell the story.

To find footage, I searched Video Blocks for images that seemed to create associations. The clips I chose came together in an intuitive way.

I am grateful for the feedback I received from Dave Bonta and Marc Neys (Swoon), two artists whose work I greatly respect and who have influenced me in creating my first video poem.

The poem “telegenic” was first published at New Verse News: newversenews.blogspot.com/2014/11/telegenic.html

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Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

On 15 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Videopoems
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Doug Spice directs an adaptation of Wilfred Owen’s classic anti-war poem, written 99 years ago but still (sadly) as relevant as ever, in which a reading of the poem is juxtaposed with a scene of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. There are many, many video adaptations of this poem on the web, but most fall into the trap of too-literal interpretation, and few have anything like the production values of this short film. Let me just paste in the complete description from Vimeo.

In 1917, while recovering from shell shock in a Scottish war hospital, Wilfred Owen wrote “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” considered by many to be the preeminent poem of World War I. Owen was later returned to the front, only to be shot and killed on November 4, 1918 – one week before the end of the war.

Today, 95 years later, tens of thousands of US and NATO troops serve out a 10th year of combat in Afghanistan, and continue to struggle and die against a resilient and determined enemy. Doug Spice’s single-take short film, also entitled “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” adapts Owen’s classic poem to the circumstances of the modern day, and a situation of grief and torment all too many soldiers, families, and friends are once again familiar with.

Director: Doug Spice
Producer: Sonia Pineda
Featuring: Chris Starr, Daniel Haff, Dave “Storm” Huffman, Rob Gruspe, Jake Daniel Kelly, Zak Holman, Clint Slosson
DP/Steadicam Operator: Thom Valko
Camera Assistant: Aaron Bennett
Production Assistant: Alex Igidbashian
Makeup: Rose Lopez
Editor & Sound Editor: Aaron Bennett
Rotoscope Artists: Alex Igidbashian, Rose Lopez
VFX/Compositing: Doug Spice
Music: “Cosmic Wanderings” by Austin Wintory
Special Thanks: Joe Toledo

Production and post-production: Psychic Bunny

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In the Beginning by Zaher Mousa

On 14 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Videopoems
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“Poetry is the only way to speak during a period of chaos.”
—Zaher Mousa

A film adaptation of a poem by the contemporary Iraqi poet Zaher (or Zahir) Mousa produced, directed and filmed by the Scottish/Iranian filmmaker Roxana Vilk, who has built up quite an interesting and varied body of poetry-related work in recent years: bio pics, interviews, and filmpoems, many featuring poets from the Middle East. (I’ll be sharing another example later in the week.) Among other credits, Maryam Gorbankarimi edited, and the sound design is by Peter Vilk with Ilhan Burutcu on the ney. The Scottish poet John Glenday is listed as the main translator, with assistance from Lauren Pyott and James Sandri (who was also the assistant director). The Vimeo description notes:

This film is a result of a commission from Reel Festivals as part of Reel Iraq 2013 and funded by Literature Across Frontiers and the British Council.

Filmed in Shaqlawa and Erbil, Northern Iraq in January 2013.

The plot summary at IMDb calls In the Beginning

an experimental film based on a poem by the acclaimed and award winning Iraqi poet, Zaher Mousa. The poem uses the form of a creation myth and explores the feelings of an Iraqi man living through the realities of life in Baghdad and how the continuing violence and conflicts have affected the way he sees the world around him.

In the Beginning was selected for screening at the 2014 ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. As for Reel Iraq 2013, it was apparently

an overwhelming success and audiences across the UK got a chance to engage directly with Iraqi poets, filmmakers, artists, writers and musicians.

Highlights included workshops in Erbil as part of the Erbil Literature Festival which led to the creation of new translations of Iraqi poets Zaher Mousa, Awezan Nouri, Ghareeb Iskander and Sabreen Kadhim and of Scotland based poets Jen Hadfield, William Letford, John Glenday and Krystelle Bamford. These new translations were performed at venues across the UK.

Musicians Khyam Allami and City of Salt performed to packed venues in Edinburgh and London, and filmmakers Parine Jaddo and Hayder Daffer presented their work in cinemas across the country.

Reel Festivals also commissioned two films based on another poem by Zaher Mousa, “Born to Die,” from filmmakers Alastair Cook and Marc Neys (Swoon). I shared them in a post back in 2013.

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Black Hands by Robert Minhinnick

On 13 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 3 Comments - Author-made videopoems
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From the Welsh environmental campaigner, essayist and poet Robert Minhinnick comes this searing example of what might be called photojournalistic poetry film, as the Vimeo description explains:

A poem by Robert Minhinnick illustrated with unique footage taken during his visit to Iraq. Visiting the notorious Amiriya bunker. Harrowing, moving and dark.

Peter Thorp edited, and the audio samples and loops were created by Peter Morgan. The film was produced (by Sonicsustain and Subjective Realities) in 2005, but refers to a horrific incident from the earlier Gulf War of 1991 — and a propaganda line about “smart bombs” that also debuted during that earlier invasion, and which went largely unchallenged by mainstream journalists in the US and UK. In fairness to them, it was difficult to gain accurate information because of the way the Pentagon severely restricted the movements of journalists on the ground, part of an ultimately successful attempt to mute public opposition to military aggression which would later find full expression during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when it was formalized under the Orwellian label embedded journalism. Reporters who refused to cooperate with the Pentagon were targeted by US missiles and tank fire. Given how dangerous the whole region has now become for journalists, and how mendacious the official justifications for warfare have always been, our need for the prophetic witness of poets is greater than ever.

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Here, Bullet by Brian Turner

On 12 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 2 Comments - Documentary, Interview videos
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This week at Moving Poems we’re marking the 15th anniversary of the US Congress’ nearly unanimous passage of the Authorization to Use Military Force on September 14, 2001, which launched the modern era of essentially endless, unlimited war. How better to begin than with Iraq War veteran Brian Turner‘s justly famous poem “Here, Bullet“? In an interview recorded at the 2009 Poetry International Festival at Rotterdam, Turner acknowledges the influence of Philip Levine’s poem “They Feed They Lion.” The video concludes with his recitation of the poem.

out of shadow by Amaal Said

On 9 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Author-made videopoems
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what are you making your way out of?
maybe skin, maybe shadow.

An author-made videopoem by photographer and poet Amaal Said, featuring Annina Chirade, editor in chief of Rooted In Magazine. The About page on Said’s website gives some insight into her motivations:

I am a Danish-born Somali photographer and poet, currently based in London, UK. I’m concerned with storytelling and how best I can connect with people to document their stories. I have photographed mainly Women of Colour in an attempt to widen representation. I started with taking as many pictures of family members because I wanted to remember them, however far they were. I’m still so fascinated with the way we can use photographs to bring people closer.

The photography grew out of the writing. There were things I could photograph better than I could describe. I am a member of the Burn After Reading poetry collective and a former Barbican Young Poet. I won the Wasafiri New Writing Prize for poetry in 2015.

I Was Born Red / Terlahir Merah by Gandiva Arungirora

On 8 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Author-made videopoems
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BAAqHuyXk

A bilingual Indonesian videopoem by the artist duo Gandiva Arungirora: Gracia Tobing (who also wrote the text) and Navida Suryadilaga. Additional credits include Chairul Karyana ‘Aceh’, art direction; Rizkita Daratri, director of photography; and Tesla Manaf, music and sound design. Tobing told me in an email that the part of the voiceover in Indonesian is a translation of the English part, but that it includes metaphors that don’t necessarily translate well. The over-all message deals with self-acceptance and identity, and how we define ourselves by where we come from, where and how we happen to have been born. Tobing also indicated that they are very interested in videopoetry and are hard at work on more videos, so keep an eye on their YouTube channel.

Ich lebe mein Leben im wachsenden Ringen / I live my life in widening circles by Rainer Maria Rilke

On 7 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 1 Comments - Videopoems
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Rilke’s “primordial tower” (uralten Turm) is given literal shape in this otherwise wonderfully suggestive film of a video installation based on the famous poem from the Book of Hours. The film, directed by the artist Pat van Boeckel, takes a kind of call-and-response approach—which seems highly appropriate, given the subject matter—by having a voiceover of the poem at the very beginning (with the English translation by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows in subtitles), followed by the installation in a kind of reverse ekphrasis. According to the Vimeo description, the installation was “Made for art project Internationales Waldkunst in Darmstadt.” Max Richter composed the music.

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earth acceleration by Mark Goodwin

On 6 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 2 Comments - Videopoems
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Here’s something fun and different: a collaboration between poet Mark Goodwin and filmmaker Martyn Blundell featuring Goodwin and his love of balancing on rails. He elaborates on this in a lyrical blog post for Longbarrow Press, who recently brought out his fourth collection, Steps, which “explores themes of climbing, walking and balancing,” according the post. Among other interesting observations, Goodwin says:

To walk along a handrail by the side of a footpath is to disobey. This is, I feel passionately, what poetry should be. Poetry is just next to the conventional ways (or habits) of being human … but it disobeys, which only goes to show those conventions more clearly, even celebrate them … but certainly challenge them.

Do read the rest. Goodwin has also recorded, mixed and produced a ten-track album of poems from Steps, available as a free download.

Motionpoems’ Season 7 poetry films to premiere in October

On 2 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - festivals and other screening events

https://vimeo.com/98679430

Autumn in the northern hemisphere usually brings the highest concentration of poetry film festivals and screening events worldwide, and this year, Motionpoems is set to join the fray, with the long-awaited world premiere of their Season 7 films to be held on October 27 in Minneapolis. (There’s also a Rooftop Sneak Preview scheduled for October 20.) Visit splashthat.com to reserve your tickets.

Motionpoems is the world’s only poetry film company. For our seventh season, we’ve partnered with Cave Canem to produce a series of films based on fantastic poems by Black poets. We’ll premiere them for the first time on October 27 at the Walker Art Center Cinema (1750 Hennepin Avenue), and we want to see you there. NOTE: There are TWO showings: One at 6pm and one at 8pm. Reserve your seats today for a $10 donation! They go fast!

This does mean that it will conflict directly with the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in Münster (October 27-30), where I’m sure at least a few of Motionpoems’ films will be screened.

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At Thirty by Paula Bohince

On 2 September, 2016 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Videopoems
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A poem by Paula Bohince adapted to film by Thibault Debaveye for Motionpoems, who refer to it on Facebook as

our first crowdsourced voiceover! Thanks to our voiceover artists John W. Goodman, Jeannie Elizabeth, Louis Murphy, Amy Miller, Jennifer Jabaily-Blackburn, Veronica Suarez, Carrie Simpson, Michelle Meyer, Juliet Patterson, Will Campbell, and Clare McWilliams.

Debaveye’s description on Vimeo:

Feeling empty. Null and void. Finding a new identity.
“At Thirty”, a visual poem about this feeling of being there but not being present.
Non-existent silhouette of ordinary people as they go about their lives in everyday chores.

See Motionpoems’ upload for the full credits, and visit their website to read the text of the poem and a brief interview with Bohince.