Posts By Dave Bonta
Call for Work: Já Poetry Film Competition 2023
An international theater festival in Lisbon has added a poetry film competition, with award-winning UK filmpoet Janet Lees as judge. Here’s the call.
Venue: CASA FERNANDO PESSOA: Rua Coelho da Rocha, 16-18 Campo de Ourique, 1250-088 Lisboa, Portugal
This international Poetry Film happening at Casa Fernando Pessoa is part of JÁ FEST, organized 11 – 16 April 2023 by Já International Theatre.
It is open to emerging and experienced artists, first-time videographers, filmmakers and poets. JÁFEST is supported by the Europa Criativa Program so we welcome POETRY FILM submissions from emerging European artists. […]
The festival offers a platform for sharing visual narratives through two In-Competition sections:
THEME 1: SEPARATION & BELONGING
In our turbulent world Separation and Belonging raises the question of where and to whom we belong. To ourselves, perhaps? To nature, to memories, to family, to love, to dreams fulfilled and unfulfilled? Until we parted we did not know we could feel so strongly, we did not know that our good memories could shrivel and vanish, that we may no longer find comfort in them. Through separation we learn a lot about ourselves and our world, don’t we?
Jury President Janet Lees: “Separation and Belonging is a nuanced theme which gives poets and filmmakers a myriad of ways to respond. Separation can remind us of and bring us back to what’s truly important. As for belonging, who, what and where do we belong to – and what, if anything, truly belongs to us? Is belonging always a positive thing, or can it be something that precipitates separation, as in belonging in the sense of ownership? I love this theme because it’s so broad, and gives people freedom within a framework. There is the focus, the ‘container’, of having a specific theme, and there is the freedom of having almost limitless ways to respond to it.”
Inspirations and poems can come from any time period, or it can be your own vers libre.
THEME 2: DISQUIET! said PESSOA, or DESASSOSSEGO COM FERNANDO PESSOA
We invite filmmakers inspired by Pessoa’s work to submit a poetry film base on one of his poems or quotations to the Disquiet! said Pessoa, or Desassossego com Fernando Pessoa section in the competition.
For more details and to submit, visit FilmFreeway.
Prodigal Daughters by Vasiliki Katsarou
A film by New Jersey-based poet Vasiliki Katsarou, using text from William Gass’s translation of Rilke’s novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge and images by Andrew David King. There wasn’t any description on Vimeo, so I contacted Katsarou to ask if she might have an artist’s statement. Here’s what she shared:
Prodigal Daughters is a collage video poem I made with Andrew David King. I’m a poet, teaching artist and publisher who holds an MFA in filmmaking, and who made a 35mm film back in the 20th century. My collaborator Andrew, whose footage this is, is a journalist, poet and book artist based in San Francisco. Our mission was to make two (one minute) cellphone films combining image and text. Prodigal Daughters was put together in serendipitous fashion, when I came across a striking passage (that I read in voiceover) from William Gass’ introduction to Rilke’s classic novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. Gass is writing about Rilke, who’s writing about young women standing in awe before hanging tapestries in a medieval museum. For me, something about this film poem seems to vault generations and art forms. It answers a question I had about how a film poem can exist independently of my own poetry and celluloid film work. It has the potential to serve as a dream instance, where meaning lies not solely in visual image nor words, but in their spontaneous combustion.
Prodigal Daughters was made during a workshop led by experimental filmmaker Lynne Sachs for the Flowchart Foundation. For more on my current work at Solitude Hill Press, please see solitudehill.com.
Blame the Fox by Jane Lovell
Devon-based poet Jane Lovell‘s poem won the 2022 Nature and Place Poetry Competition from Rialto, where the poem also appears in dead-tree media. Filmmaker Janet Lees remarked on Instagram that collaborating on the film with Lovell was “a genuinely unforgettable experience”. I can see why: the result is wondrous and moving, reminding me of everything I love about this hybrid genre.
When it feels hot, that rage against me by Rebecca Goss
Dutch filmmaker Helmie Stil‘s latest poetry film uses a text by the British poet Rebecca Goss.
This poetry film is about the transition from being a girl to a woman from the perspective of a mother who wants to protect her daughter but at the same time wanting to let her go.
Rebecca Goss’ poem ‘When it feels hot, that rage against me’ won the Sylvia Plath Prize in April 2022. For the Sylvia Plath Literary Festival in October 2022 it has been made into a poetry film by Helmie Stil from poetrycinema and The Poetry Society.
I love poetry films that feel like responses to the particularity of the places where they were shot. I know that wasn’t the case here, that the text preceded the film and was written independently of it, but the fact that it feels as if it could’ve been written ekphrastically is testament to the rightness of Stil’s imagery.
Pattern noster by bobie (Yves Bommenel)
Pattern noster is a video poem about the importance and influence of patterns. Whatever the figure, the infinite is only a sequenced series of textures.
Be sure to click the CC icon if you need the rough-and-ready English translation.
Bobie is a videopoet from Provence with an active online presence and a growing body of interesting work. I’m not sure why it’s taken us this long to feature his work at Moving Poems. He’s had an interesting trajectory as a culture worker, according to the bio on his website:
My apprenticeship began with writing and drawing. In 1994 I started a garage punk band (Mike Hey No More). Then in 2004 I discovered the dialogue between words, sounds and images on stage within the multimedia trio Ana. Since then, I explore works where the verb surveys different media: stage (Printemps des poètes, BPI Pompidou, Capc Bordeaux, Jimmachine’s tour in Japan, …), devices (Chevaux 2 Vent, Viral…) and exhibitions (Couper-coller, Frgmts collective). In recent years I have mainly devoted myself to collages and video poetry.
Or as he put it on Vimeo,
I write without being a writer. I make collages, without being a visual artist. I make video poems, without being a director. I imagine and play music too. Anyway, poetry remains my path. From my media experience, I have kept a taste for short and incisive forms.
“Hunger” and “What I Did” from The Echo Chamber by Michael Bazzett
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From filmmaker Sherng-Lee Huang and actress Veronika Nowag-Jones, whom Huang calls “a stalwart of German cinema and stage,” these two trailers for The Echo Chamber by Michael Bazzett each feature a complete, short poem from the collection. US independent literary publisher Milkweed Editions has been producing video trailers off and on for the better part of a decade. As anecdotal evidence for their effectiveness, I ordered a copy of The Echo Chamber before I even finished posting this! Here’s the publisher’s page for it.
Hat-tip: Sean Thomas Dougherty on Twitter.
Call for poetry films: Spelt Magazine
Spelt, a UK-based literary magazine focused on rural life and the natural world, is open for submissions through 25 November for their winter issue. Here are the guidelines.
- Include a cover letter in the body of your email. This should tell us a bit about you (and the poet/filmmaker if different), where your poetry films have been seen and why you think Spelt is a good fit for your work. Also include the title of your poetry film/s and the length in minutes and seconds.
- Include in the body of your email YouTube or Vimeo link/s for up to two poetry films. (Include passwords if necessary.)
- Your poetry film/s should not exceed 5 minutes.
- If your poetry film is selected, we will require it to be captioned.
- Please ensure you have copyright/permissions for all materials used.
- Send your submission to speltmagazine@gmail.com
- Please put POETRY FILM in the subject line of your email.
Poetry film editor Helen Dewbery also has a page of tips for beginning filmmaker-poets.
Startling by Linda France
British filmmaker Kate Sweeney, whose work we’ve featured here in the past, collaborated with one of my favorite contemporary ecopoets, Linda France, for a poetry film in support of her tenth collection with Faber. Here’s the YouTube description:
A short film by Kate Sweeney, with poetry written and read by Linda France.
“I have taken to counting what I want to call ‘Startlings’. They are creatures who, sensing their species is facing extinction, feel the cell-tingling impulse to evolve and ensure their survival. Within their tissue and bones, hearts and minds, they enact the necessary transformation. For every Endling there is a Startling.”
To celebrate the publication of Linda France’s tenth poetry collection – influenced by her three years of writing the climate – artist Kate Sweeney has created a new film responding to Linda’s words.
Linda France’s residency as Climate Writer was supported by New Writing North, Newcastle University and Arts Council England. Startling was published in partnership with Faber Books.
Find out more about the residency and its projects: https://newwritingnorth.com/event/writing-the-climate/
Order a copy of Startling: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571379026-startling/
3 Erasures at War by Matt Mullins
An author-made videopoem from earlier this year by Matt Mullins, who probably needs no introduction here. As someone who’s dabbled in erasure poetry myself, I was impressed by how well he handled that. There’s quite a lot of free footage of the 1934 New York World’s Fair at the Prelinger Archives, which I’m guessing might be what gave Matt the idea for the videopoem in the first place, but regardless, I think he made good use of it, taking a kinestatic approach for a pleasing contrast with the longer screen-times of the text elements. The soundtrack glues it all together, incorporating Hendrix’s rendition of the US national anthem from Woodstock.
Zoom workshop on “Poetry Film: How to Say What You Really Mean” with Helen Dewbery
British filmmaker Helen Dewbery, co-editor of Poetry Film Live, is also now Poetry Film Editor for Spelt Magazine, a new print and online journal “celebrating and validating the rural experience” and offering online courses through the Spelt Nature Writing School. Accordingly, Helen is offering a two-hour Zoom course called Poetry Film: How to Say What You Really Mean on the 29th of October.
Following on from the popularity of Helen’s previous Spelt workshop, we’ve invited her back to run another workshop in her new role as Spelt Poetry Film Editor. In this two hour workshop Helen will help you with the practicalities of making a poetry film and the ways in which the medium can be used to enhance the poem.
This workshop is open to any level of writer, from those who have never tried to make a poetry film, to those who want to expand their knowledge.
This is a zoom based workshop which will run on Saturday 29th October 11am to 1pm (UK Time)
The cost is £17.00
You will be emailed a zoom link the day before the workshop.
Spelt remains unfunded and as such if this course does not sell the requisite number of places to go ahead it may be cancelled.
This course has one bursary place attached to it for a writer in receipt of benefits.
If you have any questions, please email speltmagazine@gmail.com
About the facilitator
The facilitator for this course is Helen Dewbery. Helen Dewbery has taught poetry film extensively, in person and online. Her poetry films have appeared internationally at poetry festivals, where she has also presented talks and curations. For seven years she delivered a programme of poetry film events at Poetry Swindon Festival, including events in the community and an outdoor projection. Helen’s work has included the poetry film collection ‘Nothing in the Garden’, the Wild Whispers transnational project and the poetry film magazine Poetry Film Live. She is an associate of the Royal Photographic Society.
Here are the links to register for the workshop and watch Helen’s poetry films at Moving Poems. And finally, a heads up: the next submissions window at Spelt will be open to nature-based poetry films.
