~ Videopoems ~
Videopoetry, filmpoetry, cinepoetry, poetry-film… the label doesn’t matter. What matters is that text and images enter into dialogue, creating a new, poetic whole.
(once like a spark) by e.e. cummings
This too-brief film is from someone named Bikrant Pakhrin.
The Little Mute Boy by Federico Garcia Lorca
This is Ink Spilled in Cursive from Company E, “a contemporary repertory dance company and film-making group deeply committed to the finest repertory and artistry, with a focus on the power of art to bring awareness, enjoyment and inspiration to artists and audiences around the world.” The choreographer/performer is Jason Garcia Ignacio, with an original, live score composed by Brenden Schultz. Ink Spilled in Cursive will be performed as part of a show called Next: Spain on November 16-17 in Washington, DC. (I’m guessing that the text of the poem will be projected on or above the stage. It certainly seems integral to the performance.)
The Three Ants by Kahlil Gibran
http://vimeo.com/52815065
Gabriel Sumon directs, with cinematography by Mahdy Hasan. Filmed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in Bengali with English titling.
Syrinx by Norbert Hummelt
A very successful example of a poem used as dialogue between characters in a familiar movie set-up — a surprisingly uncommon tactic for videopoem makers. This was uploaded to YouTube by the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival folks, who solicited it for this year’s festival:
For the 6th ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Polish film makers Maciek Majewski, Łukasz Twarkowski and Wiola Sowa have collaborated with German poets Norbert Hummelt, Nico Bleutge and Christian Filips to make film versions of poems of theirs. Together they chose the poems and worked on turning them into scripts. In the run-up to the festival the pairs of artists were meeting up in Berlin to turn their ideas into films within six days. The short films that have been created in this way were premièred in the fesival. This is Maciek Majewski’s film-version of Norbert Hummelt’s poem “Syrinx”.
The translation is by Christina Hales and the poet, who is also known for his translations.
a little black strap by George Bowering
Director Pamela Bentley took a fascinating approach to this poem from George Bowering‘s chapbook of the same title (Unarmed press, St. Paul, 2009). This was screened at Visible Verse 2012 — thanks to festival organizer Heather Haley for the link in her detailed post-mortem account. She called it “a most delightful adaptation of legendary Canadian writer and our first poet laureate, George Bowering’s poem.”
Directional Geometry 101 by Janet Marie Rogers
Dan Kahan says on Vimeo:
I shot a field of sunflowers with my Canon 7D, then invited Victoria’s poet laureate, Janet Marie Rogers, to share one of her poems.
For more on Janet Marie Rogers, see her website.
Haciendo Apenas la Recolección by Tino Villanueva
Another collaboration between Chicano poet Tino Villanueva and filmmaker Alberto Roblest makes visual poetry of Villanuava’s childhood, which was spent following the crops with his migrant farmworker family in Texas.
Bones Will Crow: selections from ten Burmese poets
This tantalizing introduction to the contemporary Burmese poetry scene offers a rare (for Westerners) glimpse into the country’s intellectual life. Here are the details from Vimeo:
Images: Craig Ritchie.
Animations: Brett Biedscheid/State of State.
Animations Commissioned by English Pen.Images of Burmese poets taken in their writing spaces in Yangon, Burma during 2011/2012.
Poem excerpts from the anthology of Burmese Poetry, ‘Bones Will Crow’, by Arc Publications, 2012.
The excerpted poems include “The Sniper” by Pandora, “A Letter for Lovers and Haters” by Ma Ei, “Aung Cheimt Goes to the Cinema” by Aung Cheimt, “A Bunch of 52 Keys” by Maung Pyiyt Min, “Moonless Night” by Moe Zaw, “Slide Show” by Zeyar Lynn, “Redundant Sentences” by Thitsar Ni, “Gun and Cheese” by Khin Aung Aye, “The Heart Bearer” by Maung Thein Zaw, and “If You Need to Piss, Go to the Other Room” by Moe Way. Translators are ko ko thett, James Byrne and Maung Tha Noe.
Revenant by Jane McKie
Jane McKie reads and Rebecca Joy Scharp plays the clarsach in this filmpoem by Alastair Cook. It was commissioned by Absent Voices, “a group focused on the celebration of the vast and semi-derelict Greenock Sugar Sheds,” according to Alastair’s note on the previous film in the series, “How Well It Burns” by Brian Johnstone.
Hay Otra Voz—A Chicano Poem by Tino Villanueva
A collaboration between Chicano poet Tino Villanueva and filmmaker Alberto Roblest.
