Posts By Marie Craven
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll‘s famous nonsense poem Jabberwocky has been adapted to the screen many times. This version from 2020 by Dutch artist Sjaak Rood was produced for TED-Ed as part of a series of collaborations between educators and film animators. Music is by Mark Nieuwenhuis with narration by Jack Cutmore-Scott. It was a 2021 finalist in the Ó Bhéal Poetry Film Competition in Ireland.
Moving Poems has previously shared two other film versions of Jabberwocky as well as an adaptation of Carroll’s The Mad Gardener’s Song.
For the Birds by Mike Hoolboom
Canadian Mike Hoolboom has been highly esteemed in the world of experimental film-making for decades. His work mostly falls within a subset of that genre involving unconventional approaches to narrative. The spoken words of his films also come across as a kind of prose poetry, and here his work crosses into the area of videopoetry.
Mike often voices his own films in the first person evoking a sense of autobiography, while subverting that perception with unlikely confessions, irony and dashes of absurdity. Still his films and words convey something truly personal and deeply moving.
A statement from him about this video, For the Birds:
One of my father’s favourite expressions, mostly passed away now: for the birds. Meaning: that was nothing. In this aviary anthology, the narrator describes a post-art life that leads, inexorably, to the nature of nature. He makes a vow to the birds, sincere to the last, still embracing the fantasy that language came before the world.
Moving Poems previously shared his prophetic 1998 film In the Future. I included another of his films, Rain, in the Poetry + Video program that toured pre-pandemic Europe in 2019.
Structures of Nature by Martin Gerigk
Here at Moving Poems we sometimes like to push at the boundaries of what may be considered videopoetry. Structures of Nature is another instance of this. Beyond any theoretical interest in stretching these boundaries, we share it simply because it is a virtuosic marvel of a film that centrally incorporates text among its elements.
The piece has had its widest recognition under the auspices of experimental film, screening at over 150 festivals and gathering multiple awards. Of course, experimental film is a major area of influence on so many videopoems. The relative freedom of subject and form inherent to both poetry and experimental film make for a natural partnership.
The concept, video, editing, music and soundtrack of Structures of Nature are all by German artist, Martin Gerigk, whose bio states that he is primarily a composer and arranger for orchestra and chamber music, with audiovisual art a second string in his creative work. Certainly, the soundtrack is a prime feature of the film’s great impact.
Forget viewer control over sequential perception or any ability to take in all elements of this film at once. The best way to view it is to let go of these traditional expectations and allow the mind to process it on levels beyond straightforward cognition. One of Gerigk’s intentions is to evoke a synaesthetic experience, in which the stimulation of one sense evokes an experience in another. From the film-maker’s statement on the piece:
In my sensory world, sounds are firmly linked to certain colors and forms, a phenomenon called synaesthesia. I have experienced my environment that way since my birth. Over the years, therefore, the idea arose to visualize this variation of perception and make it tangible for everyone to experience. Even as an adult, I still find myself astonished at the secrets of nature. The filigree cosmos of the microscopic, the nested laws of nature; here, the formation of swarms, the principle of emergence, is certainly one of the most fascinating phenomena we know. Especially, since we ourselves live the behavior of swarms, every day, regarding our dealings with one another, our communication, the formation of communities, as well as our division of tasks within society. The world is changing with increasing speed. Digitalization networks us, joins us, changes our communication, and sometimes lets us forget that we and our achievements continue to be an expression of the rules and principles of nature. In order to visualize precisely these laws, Structures of Nature was created. A synaesthetic journey through inner and outer worlds of experience. Thus, I have endeavored to complement the speech and music to be heard, and all the sounds, by commensurate film sequences which correspond to my own visual synaesthetic perception. Each cinematic composition simulates the basic geometry and the color and form of what is heard but also completes the subject of what is described.
The 18 minute length of Structures of Nature is another basic way the film departs from the usual briefer expectations in videopoetry, but Gerigk’s astonishing creative mastery makes the viewing time so worthwhile.
murder girl gets wired by Caroline Reid
murder girl gets wired is written and spoken by award-winning South Australian poet and performer, Caroline Reid. She describes its subject as “hard-edged urban youth culture in late night small city Australia”. The film-maker in the collaboration goes by the artist name featherfurl, and also makes music and gif art.
The eerie suburban images are night-time photographs that are given filmic motion via subtle and unusual visual effects. The soundtrack, engineered by Jeffrey Zhang, is a stand-out feature, with two softly-layered voice tracks accompanying the central reading of the poem.
The inventive use of simple media elements, coupled with the powerful writing, creates outstanding videopoetry in this piece.
murder girl gets wired is the second film we have featured at Moving Poems from Caroline Reid and collaborators. The first was Lost, a finalist in the Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film competition in Ireland in 2019, and part of Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Germany in 2020.
more than one by Lo Sirong
A musical videopoem from Taiwan, ‘more than one‘ features the exquisite voice of Lo Sirong singing her own text, in a first collaboration with film-maker Amang Hung, also a poet of some renown.
The subtitles in English are by Steve Bradbury, an American who lived for many years in Taiwan as Associate Professor of English at National Central University. In this week focusing on translation at Moving Poems, this video also embodies another level of poetry translation – into song. About Lo Sirong:
Influenced by her father the poet Lo Lang, Lo Sirong enters her musical world through her poetry; she applies an improvisational style that highlights both her vocal and literary talents to produce intimate meditations on love, family and the human spirit in everyday life.
Lo has produced a large body of work and has written hundreds of songs in Hakka Hokkien and Mandarin Chinese. She has won a number of awards for both her songwriting and poetry from major publications in Taiwan. – World Music Central
Further reading about Lo Sirong also reveals that she embarked on her singing career unusually late in life, not long before turning 50.
Prior to sharing this collaboration between Lo Sirong and Amang Hung, Moving Poems published two musical videopoetry collaborations between Lo Sirong and film-maker Ye Mimi.
Noho Mai by Peta-Maria Tunui
Winner of the 2020 Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film Competition, Noho Mai is a simple, slow and gentle piece, balm in troubled times. It is spoken in the Māori language (te reo), with English subtitles to be found in the closed captions (bottom right of the Vimeo player).
The project was initiated and facilitated by Charles Olsen and Lilián Pallares. Charles is a New Zealander now living in Spain. Conceived at the start of the pandemic, it became an online collaboration between artists in the two countries. The poem was written by Peta-Maria Tunui as part of an exploratory workshop process that also involved contributions from Waitahi Aniwaniwa McGee, Shania Bailey-Edmonds and Jesse-Ana Harris.
Charles has written at length about the film here.
Atticus Review Submissions
Atticus Review has published videopoetry in their Mixed Media section for over 10 years. The journal is currently calling for submissions of work for publication…
Atticus Review seeks all types of mixed media works for publication: videopoetry, short/experimental films, electronic/digital/interactive literature, visual artwork, animation, comics, audio soundscapes, sonic compositions, etc. If you like to push literary boundaries with alternative approaches, send us your best. We do accept previously published/screened work.
We potentially accept work with any theme, but upcoming themed issues are: The Internet (August 15th, 2022), Language (December 15th, 2022).
To submit, send an email with the subject “Mixed Media Submission” to mixedmedia@atticusreview.org. For video, audio, and interactive literature we prefer that you send links on Vimeo or YouTube or Soundcloud (or wherever the work is posted online) rather than send us files directly.
Festivals, Competitions, Journals: Open for Submissions
Source: Thomas William, Unsplash
CURRENTLY ACCEPTING POETRY FILM SUBMISSIONS:
Festival Fotogenia, Mexico
Entry fee: US$25
Submissions close: 20 September 2020
Versi di Luce, Italy
Entry fee: US$10
Submissions close: 30 September 2020
Deanna Tulley Multimedia Prize, USA
(from Slippery Elm Literary Journal, University of Findlay, Ohio)
Entry fee: US$10
Submissions close: 30 September 2020
Queensland Poetry Festival: Film & Poetry Challenge, Australia
(for Australian artists)
Entry fee: AUD$15
Submissions close: 10 October 2020
Mayflower 400 Poetry Film Competition, UK
Entry fee: free
Submissions close: 19 October 2020
Helios Sun Poetry Film Festival, Mexico
Entry fee: US$15
Submissions close: 31 October 2020
Athens International Poetry Film Festival, Greece
Entry fee US$6
Submissions close: 27 November 2020
REELPoetry Festival, USA
Entry fee: US$15
Submissions close: 15 December 2020
International Migration & Environmental Film Festival, Portugal
Entry fee: US$20.50
Submissions close: 31 January 2021
Caafa International Film Festival, Nigeria
(for African and African-descended artists)
Entry fee: US$10
Submissions close: 18 June 2021
Sealed Faithful Halls by Anna Fo
https://youtu.be/fY9CrkgqQHk
Confidently crossing an imagined border between experimental film and video poetry, Anna Fo‘s Sealed Faithful Halls is an outstanding instance of both. The poetic text is spoken by the film-maker and readable in subtitles. Before the poem arrives there is a two-minute visual introduction with a freely-shifting musical soundscape by Theofanis Avraam. Both of these wordless elements of the film are brilliant as well.
The film was created during lockdown, one of 50 short films selected for the 50 Shorts VS Covid-19 project of the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture.
Finn Harvor: Isolation Trip Remix
Finn Harvor was invited to write for Moving Poems about two publicly-released versions of his video Isolation Trip Remix, both of them collaborations with musician Ian Peninsolar (aka Peninsolar). Ian composed the music soundtrack, which includes found sound and dialogue that forms a kind of ‘found poem’ in itself. Finn directed the videos and created an additional layer of poetic text for the second version.
Isolation Trip Remix (original version)
Finn’s process notes:
This began as a sound and visual collage based on a late evening bike ride along the Han River early this summer. The coronavirus crisis was still in its early stage, and the mood throughout South Korea — as most of the world — was eerie.
I often do projects by building them up in layers; that is, by starting with shot footage and adding my own music, or not using music at all and simply creating a visual/aural collage. Because it takes a long time to get poetry published, this method of working allows me to get projects “out into the world” without worrying about the stigma of self-publishing my text (though occasionally I’ve done that also (and want to emphasize I think it’s a good idea when artists and writers occasionally do this)). Generally, the completed videopoem doesn’t become public for quite some time — often, years.
Ian Peninsolar had been suggesting we collaborate on a project. I messaged him and suggested this. He added a soundtrack, which included sampled audio of very unusual weather systems from several years ago. The voiceover adds quite a bit to the project, and meshes perfectly with Ian’s musical soundtrack. It has the stentorian seriousness of an authority, which is what we’re used to hearing during crises.
It seemed like a good metaphor for what the world is going through this year. Later, I added text of my own to make it a videopoem in the more conventional sense of the term.
Isolation Trip Remix (with added text)
Note: aside from his substantial body of work as a maker of videopoems, Finn is notable too for his critical writing. This can be found at the UK journal, Poetry Film Live.
