~ workshops and courses ~
New online series ‘Poetry Film in Conversation’ debuts February 9
Poetry Film Live and Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival are holding an online series of events, ‘Poetry Film in Conversation’. The events kick off on February 9th 19.30 (GMT) with Animation, Motion Graphics and Text on Screen. Diek Grobler, Suzie Hanna and Jane Glennie will each give a presentation (Suzie’s will be pre-recorded) followed by a panel discussion chaired by Lucy English, and finishing up with an audience Q&A.
Diek Grobler is an artist working in various media and disciplines. Since 2010 his creative and theoretical focus has been on animated poetry-film. His films have been widely exhibited on international animation festivals, and his work has been shortlisted twice for the Weimar Poetry-film Award. He was awarded a PhD in Art from the University of South Africa and is an independent researcher on Poetry-film and experimental forms of animation.
Jane Glennie is a filmmaker, typographer, and founder of Peculiarity Press. Her films have screened worldwide, featured on www.shondaland.com, and received awards at competitions in the UK, Germany, and USA. Her poetry film with Rosie Garland, funded by Arts Council England, has now been published as a ‘book of the film with extras’.
Suzie Hanna is Emerita Professor of Animation at Norwich University of the Arts. She was Chair of NAHEMI, the National Association for Higher Education in the Moving Image from 2016 – 2019, and remains an honorary member of the executive. As an animator who collaborates with other academics and artists, her research interests include animation, poetry, puppetry and sound design. She has made numerous short films all of which have been selected for international festival screenings, TV broadcast or exhibited in curated shows. She also creates improvised animated projections for live performances of music and poetry. Recent commissions include short films for BBC Ideas and Cambridge University Creative Encounters Programme. She contributes to journals, books and conferences, and has led several innovative projects including online international student collaborations and digital exhibitions of art and poetry on what was Europe’s largest public HiDef screen. She works as a production consultant and as an international academic examiner, and she was a member of the AHRC Peer Review College from 2009-2014.
To book tickets please go to Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-film-in-conversation-animation-motion-graphics-and-text-on-screen-tickets-516766210647
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.
Free poetry film lesson plans from Motionpoems
This Instagram photo of the Motionpoems booth (with poet Eve L. Ewing) at the just-concluded AWP conference in Tampa reminded me that they’ve developed extensive lesson plans for undergraduate poetry writing and filmmaking classes — something I’ve heard several people in the larger poetry film community express a need for over the years. But other than one brief mention back in 2015, I’ve never really covered the Motionpoems lesson plans here. And they look very useful indeed! Go to http://motionpoems.org/teach/ to browse and download the PDFs.
They’ve developed two separate curricula, and I’m just going to copy and paste the text of the entire page in here so you can see why I’m so impressed:
The Motionpoems Poetry Curriculum
Made for undergrad poetry writing classes—but designed to be adaptable for other levels, courses, and genres.
Rather than create a series of lessons that you must teach in a certain order, we’ve created a flexible series of lessons, some of which come with video interviews. You can teach these in a sequence of concept and craft lessons, or you can drop them into a syllabus that you’ve already designed at the appropriate time. It’s also possible, depending on classroom hours, to fill an entire semester with these lessons! If you’re interested in setting up a Skype session with one of our artists, email Saara to see if a virtual conversation is possible.
We plan to add more, depending on audience interest, so tell us what you think and check back often!
ANOMALY, PARADOX, & IRONY
The List Poem: Anomaly, Paradox, Irony & “Cigar Box Banjo,” a lesson plan by Janet Burroway that uses “Cigar Box Banjo” by poet Kim Addonizio and filmmaker Danny Madden.
ANAPHORA
Anaphora, Ritual, & “The Tao of the Black Plastic Comb,” a lesson plan by Saara Myrene Raappana that uses “The Tao of the Black Plastic Comb” by poet Glenis Redmond and filmmaker Irving Hillman.
BONUS: This lesson plan incorporates video interviews with Glenis Redmond and Irving Hillman. Find them here.
REPETITION, NEGATION, & IMPERATIVE
Repetition, Negation, & Imperative in “How Do You Raise a Black Child?” a lesson plan by Saara Myrene Raappana that uses “How Do You Raise a Black Child?” by poet Cortney Lamar Charleston and filmmaker Seyi Peter-Thomas. BONUS: This lesson plan incorporates a video interview with Seyi Peter-Thomas and a text interview with Cortney Lamar Charleston. Find them here and here, respectively.
RHYME
Rhyme & “I’m Over the Moon,” a lesson plan by Athena Kildegaard that uses “I’m Over the Moon” by poet Brenda Shaughnessy and filmmaker Jessica Hundley.
APOSTROPHE
Apostrophe & “The Mother Warns the Tornado,” a lesson plan by Saara Myrene Raappana that uses “The Mother Warns the Tornado” by poet Catherine Pierce and filmmaker Isaac Ravishankara.
TONE
Tone: “The Long Deployment” & “The Mysterious Arrival of an Unusual Letter,” a lesson plan by Janet Borroway that uses “The Long Deployment” by poet Jehanne Dubrow/filmmaker Nicole McDonald and “The Mysterious Arrival of an Unusual Letter” by poet Mark Strand/filmmaker Scott Wenner.
PERSONAL MYTH
Personal Myth & “Things I Carry Into the World,” a lesson plan by Saara Myrene Raappana that uses “Things I Carry Into the World” by poet Cynthia Manick and filmmakers Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood.
BONUS: This lesson plan incorporates a video interview with Cynthia Manick, Jamil McGinnis, Pat Heywood, and producer Claire McGirr. Find it here.
AMBIGUITY
(The Right Kind of) Ambiguity & “The Blue Black Wet of Wood,” a lesson plan by Eric Doise that uses “The Blue Black Wet of Wood” by poet Carmen Gillespie and filmmaker Malik Vitthal.
BONUS: This lesson plan incorporates a video interview with Carmen Gillespie. Find it here.
METAPHOR
Metaphor & “A Day at the Mall Reminds Me of America,” a lesson plan by Janet Burroway that uses “A Day at the Mall Reminds Me of America” by poet Sarah Blake and filmmaker Ayse Altinok.
ALLUSION
Allusions! & “The Robots Are Coming,” a lesson plan by Eric Doise that uses “The Robots Are Coming” by poet Kyle Dargan and filmmaker Julia Iverson.
BONUS: This lesson incorporates a video interview with Kyle Dargan and Julia Iverson. Find it here.
FIXED FORM/VILLANELLE
Fixed Form & “The Long Deployment,” a lesson plan by Saara Myrene Raappana that uses “The Long Deployment” by poet Jehanne Dubrow and filmmaker Nicole McDonald.
IMAGE
“Either/Or” & the Necessity for Image, a lesson plan by Athena Kildegaard that uses “Either/Or” by poet Maxine Kumin and filmmaker Adam Tow.
IDEA GENERATION
Generating Ideas & “I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast,” a lesson plan by Saara Myrene Raappana that uses “I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast” by poet Melissa Studdard and filmmaker Dan Sickles.
The Motionpoems “How to Make Motionpoems” Curriculum
We’ve found that the process of making a motionpoem has numerous educational benefits. We’ve seen student filmmakers, regardless of their major, develop:
- a deepened, nuanced understanding, not only of the poem they’re adapting, but of poetry in general;
- skills in project management, video editing software, and artistic collaboration;
- functional, productive vocabularies centered around teamwork, collaboration, and audience;
- really cool motionpoems!
We’re making our “How To Make Motionpoems” curriculum available to you for your classrooms. These lessons, which can be accomplished in 4-6 weeks depending on class hours (maybe even less if you’re pressed for time), were developed for undergraduate, cross-disciplinary classrooms of poetry, film, and music majors, but can be easily adapted for your students regardless of their majors or education level. One middle school Language Arts class even managed to complete this unit in two weeks! Not sure how to do it? Email us for help!
DOWNLOADS:
- Read first: Notes for teachers.
- Day 1 Handout
- Motionpoems Best Practices
- Storyboard Template
- Phase 1 PowerPoint
- Phase 2 PowerPoint
- Phase 3 PowerPoint
- Phase 4 PowerPoint
- Phase 5 PowerPoint
Check out some motionpoems made by students here!
(Again, all of the above was lifted from the Motionpoems website; lengthy blockquotes are cumbersome to read. Kudos to Saara and the other authors for writing and compiling such a tremendous resource for students and educators.)
Film Poetry Weekend Course in Poole, UK, January 13-14
This sounds like a terrific deal: a two-day workshop with Helen Dewbery and Chaucer Cameron (Elephant’s Footprint, Poetry Film Live) for less than £20. Here’s the description on Eventbright:
As part of Light Up Poole’s film poetry competition, Poole Museum are hosting this fantastic film poem weekend course. Learn the ins and outs of film poetry on this two-day course, led by Helen Dewberry and Chaucer Cameron.
Day 1 (10am-4pm)
Day one will be an introduction to film poetry, from theory to practise. By the end of the day, you will have created your very own film poem, and have an understanding of its significance, as well as the various genres.
- Understanding film poetry.
- Genre.
- The creative process – text, filming, sound and editing.
- Creating your first film poem using archive footage.
Day 2 (12pm-4pm)
Participants will be supported to plan and make their own personal film poem. You are welcome to bring your own equipment for this process.
We will give a demonstration using iMovie. For Windows users, please download Movie Maker before the session. You are welcome to use any other software you are familiar with.
Limited editing equipment is available for loan during the sessions.
For more information and concessions, email matt@artfulscribe.co.uk.
If you’re a poet curious about poetry film, and especially if you’d like to enter the Lighthouse Poole competition judged by Lucy English and Sarah Tremlett, here’s your chance. Click through to register.
Chaucer Cameron and Helen Dewbery
Speaking of Chaucer and Helen, be sure to visit Poetry Film Live. They’ve got the Christmas decorations up and are posting new poetry films and features all month long.
New Cinepoems organization announces 48-hour filmpoem challenge in Glasgow
Cinepoems is “a new organisation for exploring, developing and promoting filmpoetry in Scotland, Quebec and everywhere,” and “is currently run by poet Rachel McCrum (Edinburgh) and a loose collective of film makers and poets in Scotland and Quebec.” This week they announced their first live event, a 48-hour challenge for poetry filmmakers.
What?
It’s the first live event from cinepoems in Scotland! Poets, writers, filmmakers, performers, artists…your participation is wanted! Let’s make some filmpoems in one glorious weekend…
The challenge….
Get a team together. Find something to film with. Some editing software (you will probably have this on your computer already). Get yourself to Glasgow University on Friday 2nd December for a workshop and registration and then GO!
You have 48 hours to write, film, edit and submit a filmpoem (up to 5 minutes long), and then be at the Andrew Stewart Cinema, University of Glasgow, for 6pm on Sunday 4th December. All filmpoems will then be screened, and our panel of judges will award prizes to the top three filmpoems. Other hijinks will ensue.
What do you mean by ‘filmpoetry’?
Film + poetry, image + text + sound (maybe). It’s that simple. Filmpoetry, videopoetry, cinepoetry…whatever you want to call it…is an artform that has been around as long as cinema. From the experiments of Dada artists in the 1920s to the work of Scottish artist Margaret Tait to viral videos on Youtube today. It can include performance, text on screen, animation, abstract images, sound. There are hundreds of ways to make filmpoems, as many different forms as there are forms of poetry or genres of film.
We’ll be releasing some more examples of filmpoems over the next few weeks, along with tips on filming, editing and formats. Keep an eye on the blog here, and follow us on @cine_poems on Twitter or join the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cinepoems.
In the meantime, these sites might give you some ideas:
- Moving Poems: https://movingpoems.com/
- filmpoem : http://filmpoem.com/
- LUX online : http://www.luxonline.org.uk/
- ZEBRA poetry film festival: http://www.zebrapoetryfilm.org/2016
- Liberated Words: http://liberatedwords.com/
- Videopoetry: A manifesto – Tom Konyves https://critinq.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/videopoetry-a-manifesto-by-tom-konyves/
Watch some. The key components are text, image and sound (not necessarily in that order). Don’t get intimidated or bogged down in either terminology or technology. The aim of this event is get people together and creating: DIY, grassroots, punk filmmaking, poetry, sound. Be bold, be brave, be beautiful. Let’s throw the cats out.
The only rules for the 48hour event are…
- The filmpoem MUST be written and filmed over the 48 hours of the December weekend – no cheating with pre-made films or pre-written poems!
- The filmpoem must be under 5 minutes long.
- The submitting team (or at least a representative) must be there IN PERSON to deliver the finished filmpoem to the cinepoems team by 6pm on Sunday 4th December at the Andrew Stewart Cinema, University of Glasgow. Online entries will not be accepted. However, online registration for the event will be open 5- 6pm on Friday 2nd December if you can’t make the workshop in person.
Does it cost anything?
Cost of registration is £10* per team. Payable in person on 2nd December or via online registration, which will open on the day.
What next?
Follow cinepoems on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/cinepoems
and on Twitter here: @cine_poems
for further updates over the next few weeks. Get the dates in your diary. Get a team together. See you on the 2nd December!
Love
the cinepoems team
*cinepoems is a non-profit organisation. All fees from this event will go towards venue hire and fees for judges.
2016 Video Poetry Summer Camp for Teen Girls Wraps Up
On Sunday, July 31, seven teen filmmakers, all female, showed off their video poems in front of an appreciative audience. This year, our second running the Media Poetry Studio camp, students ranged in age from 12 to 16 years old. Each student gave a short introduction, talking about inspiration, writing poems, learning videography, filming, and editing.
Our students’ videos this year displayed a diverse range of themes. Almah Galan’s “What I See” focuses on social justice and includes an interview with her great-grandfather, while Caila Bigelman’s “A Game of Chess” features her own, fanciful drawings. Rachel Schultz’s impressionistic, untitled video deals with the passage of time, while Carol Liou’s video (also untitled) questions the value of sacrifice. Emilia Rossmann’s video is a touching reflection on the loss of loved ones, while Dasha Dedkovskaya’s depicts one person’s struggle with insomnia. Finally, Shachi Prasad takes a philosophical look at the price of being gifted.
David Perez explains ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.
Lessons began each morning in our outdoor classroom at San Jose’s History Park. Students spent the mornings writing, listening, reading and critiquing each other’s work. Our goal for the first day was for each student to write a haiku, which she turned into a short video that afternoon. MPS co-founder and former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate David Perez, along with special effects and videography teacher Jennifer Gigantino, introduced them to film techniques, and worked with the students throughout the two weeks. For the rest of the two weeks, we coached the students in writing and filming their videos.
Students use paper frames to define subjects.
For inspiration, I brought art and photography books for the students to browse. The books range from the classic, 1955 collection The Family of Man, edited by Edward Steichen, to pocket editions of Magritte and Chagall’s paintings. The students marked pages that stood out for them with Post-It notes. Going over the books after camp was over, I could see where many of their ideas began. For example, a drawing of a building reminded Caila of a chess piece; Almah was struck by Dorothea Lange’s famous “Migrant Mother.” Magritte’s eerie “The Musings of a Solitary Walker” inspired Dasha.
Students created a community of artists and writers on the first day. The supportive spirit continued throughout the camp. It was a pleasure to see how the girls jumped in to help each other, from acting in each other’s videos to holding the camera still in order to get an extreme close-up (of each other’s eyes – eyes were a theme this year!) to offering help with setting up scenes.
Videography teacher Jennifer Gigantino working on haiku videos with students.
Our curriculum this year included some wonderful teachers new to Media Poetry Studio: the fabulous Mighty Mike McGee, a well-know spoken-word poet who performs around the world, and the talented Freya Seeburger, a cellist who runs JAMS (Juxtapositions Avant Music Symphony). Mike gave a presentation on using spoken word techniques in voicing video poems, and Freya composed original music for each student’s poem. Freya also gave us a mini-concert, playing the music she created and offering commentary about her creative process. Much of that beautiful, haunting music is heard on the students’ videos.
Erica Goss setting up the camera for Almah Galan’s video.
We are also grateful for Elaine Levia, whose skills went far beyond her job description as “aide” – Elaine helped with writing, recording, filming and editing. Videography expert Jennifer Gigantino ushered the students into the mysteries of Adobe Premiere and After Effects. Students were particularly intrigued with masking, a technique that allows one layer of video to show through another. You can see how the students used masking in their videos.
Co-founder and poetry teacher Jennifer Swanton Brown gave us a wonderful ekphrastic lesson using art postcards; this lesson resulted in the seeds for quite a few of the students’ final poems. And last but certainly not least, I give huge thanks to my partner in this endeavor: David Perez, one of the hardest-working people I know, for his intelligence, creativity, energy, and artistic excellence.
Vocal recording.
One of the best things about Media Poetry Studio is its location: History Park in San Jose. We use the Edwin Markham House, an old-fashioned two-story house that Edwin Markham once lived in. We all agreed that the spirit of Markham, a well-known poet who died in 1940, gave the house a special quality.
We could not be more proud of our talented students. Once again, we are grateful for the support of the video poetry community and our funders, including major support from the City of San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Macy’s, and our fiscal sponsor, California Poets in the Schools. Thanks to Poetry Center San Jose for the use of Markham House. We could not have done this without you.
Group photo in front of Markham House.
Poetry film workshop in Bristol, 14-15 October
Bath Spa University is sponsoring a Liberated Words Two-Day Poetry Film Festival, led by the accomplished filmpoem makers Chaucer Cameron and Helen Dewbery. Here’s the Facebook event description:
The workshop is generously sponsored by Bath Spa University so the cost is just £10
Booking: to reserve a place contact Chaucer by email: chaucer.cameron@gmail.com
The workshop covers:
- understanding what poetry film is or can be
- viewing poetry films from around the world
- knowing where to find still and moving images
- creating images and film yourself
- where to find music and sound or get it made
- putting it all together
- where to send/show finished work
We will finish day one of the workshop making a group poetry film together. On day two, with support and collaboration, you will have the opportunity to make a poetry film of your own. We will include using archive material, still images and moving film, and using words on the screen and voiceovers. You will be encouraged to bring your own ideas and skills, and push into new realms of what poetry and poetry film can be.
It is useful, but not essential, for you to bring a laptop, and camera or mobile phone capable of taking video. If you do not have a laptop you will not be able to make your own poetry film on the day – but there is still plenty you can learn and experience – so don’t let that put you off.
An practical online handbook is available for all participants.
Please bring a packed lunch. Coffee, tea and snacks are available in the YHA café.
The workshop will be held October 14 – October 15 in the conference room, YHA Bristol, The Grain House, 14 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA. See Facebook for more information.
Applications open for two-week Films as Poems workshop in London
I was excited to hear about this upcoming course for aspiring poetry-film makers from filmmaker and poet Zillah Bowes.
Films As Poems is a 2 week workshop in film creativity structured around making a film poem, taking place in London 4-15 April 2016.
Participants develop, shoot and edit a 2-5 minute film poem on the course during 2 weeks. There are workshops in camera and sound as well as feedback during the various stages of the film process.
Previous participants have screened their films after the course, including selection at the Zebra Poetry Film Festival.
Participants are mainly factual filmmakers looking to develop poetic expression, but the course is open to all.
Full details and examples at www.filmsaspoems.com.
Erica Goss: Video Poetry Summer Camp for Teen Girls Wraps Up
Instructor Jen Gigantino demonstrating how to use special effects
Media Poetry Studio wrapped up its first summer camp on Saturday, August 1, with a screening of student films. Parents, friends and members of the arts community watched the eight short films our students created over the two weeks of camp. The students, who ranged in age from eleven to sixteen years old, were on hand to answer questions about their work.
In spite of the technological aspects of making videos (cameras, editing software, etc.), everything started with paper and pen. Each student received her own hard-bound journal, and spent much of each day writing. During the mornings of the first week, they worked with me on generative writing, and in the afternoons, they attended classes with MPS co-founder and Santa Clara County Poet Laureate David Perez, who introduced them to film techniques. The girls made their first video, using haiku they wrote on the first day of camp, by mid-week. After that, we focused on writing the poem each student would use for her final video.
The camp shifted in the second week to video instruction, and by the middle of the second week, we were in full film-crew mode. Students worked very hard to finish their films by Friday. Some finished early, while some students worked right up until the last minute of camp. The students who completed their films early assisted the students who still had work to do.
Camp curriculum included a number of guest speakers and instructors, who taught students topics that ranged from spoken word to 2D animation. Our highly talented and dedicated staff consisted of instructional aide Elaine Levia, poet Lucia Misch (spoken word), Jennifer Swanton Brown (MPS co-founder and poet-teacher), Jen Gigantino (video special effects) and the team of Annelyse Gelman and Auden Lincoln-Vogel (animation).
We held the camp at the Edwin Markham House in San Jose’s History Park. The house is the headquarters of Poetry Center San Jose, and its location in History Park gave our students a wide range of filming opportunities, from the house itself to the park grounds, which include more historic houses, a train, covered wagon, and gardens. The park is adjacent to the Japanese Friendship Garden, which we made use of for field trips.
Each video was decidedly individual, reflecting the personality and interests of the girl who made it. Our students expressed their feelings about the future, about struggles with control, the idea of home, having time to themselves, and the pressure they feel at school. Each video reflected the unique thoughts and vision of the maker. No two were alike.
David Perez, Jennifer Brown and I are very pleased with our first Media Poetry Studio camp. We’re already planning for next year! We will run another camp next year, and would like to add an advanced camp for this year’s students. We are grateful for the support of the video poetry community and our funders. We could not have done this without you.
Visit the MPS website’s About page for more photos. Three of the girls’ films are on the front page, and we reproduce them below as well.
Written, filmed and edited by Emilia Rossmann.
Written, animated and edited by Maggie Gray.
Written, filmed, animated and edited by Carol Liou.
Swoon’s View: Videopoetry Workshop at the Annikki Poetry Festival
Last week I had the opportunity to visit Tampere, Finland. The Annikki Poetry Festival had invited me to give a workshop on videopoetry (as well as do a short live reading). The festival asked J.P. Sipilä to select a collection of videopoetry to showcase, and he suggested a workshop by Swoon.
Invitations like these are hard to decline and I want to say thanks to J.P. and to Simo Ollila for getting me there.
The objective beforehand was to create a few brand-new videopoems in one day. First I showed some examples of videopoetry and talked about the genre a bit—not too long, though. Doing it is the best way to learn in my opinion.
Experimenting is fun; I showed eight small, one-minute films (animation, film, archive, abstract…) in a loop, asking every participant to write one line (sentence, word, etc.) inspired by each minute of film. So everyone had an eight-line ‘poem’. I made them all pick out one of the minute-long films and let them read their lines aloud during that film. The others could observe, look and listen. It’s a fun exercise to create something ‘right there, right now’. Words suddenly fit a certain shot (though not written for that image). The participants get to experience the importance of timing, the power of coincidence, and, hopefully, the fun of playing with words and images.
After that, four groups were formed to work on projects of their own, making sure each group had someone familiar with film and/or video and someone willing to write. I kicked them out of the classroom with two tasks: go out, film, write, have fun… and come back with two minutes of film and a short poem/text to go with that.
Once they were back they started to combine and collect all the material. Choices were made about which visuals to use, while others started to write (inspired by those choices and the things they saw outside). Music and readings were recorded. Each project was scripted out for me to edit.
The room was buzzing. It’s a joy to experience that.
Time’s up!
At night in my hotel room, I edited three of the four videos, following the instructions and scripts the groups had provided me with. The last one was edited by the group at their school/home.
I must say I am very pleased with how it all worked out. Enjoy!
Read a longer account of the whole festival at my blog.
Videopoetry and poetry-film events for June
June 5 in Tampere, Finland
Video Poetry Workshop by Swoon (fully booked)
During the workshop day attendees will compose one finished video poem, which will be presented the next day during the video poetry showcase at the Annikki Poetry Festival.
June 6 in Tampere, Finland
Video Poetry Showcase @ Annikki Poetry Festival
Finnish videopoet J.P. Sipilä has curated a videopoetry showcase for the festival. He has selected ten interesting videopoems from artists around the world.
The video poems will be shown nonstop in the underground gallery from 11 am to 8 pm.
June 6 in Boston
Martha McCollough videopoem screening at Away Mission Opening Reception, Atlantic Works Gallery
Martha McCollough ventures into new media (macro lens photography,) new subject (text as image,) and new scale. She will also be showing several video poems. McCollough is a videographer and writer who lives in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Her videopoems have been exhibited internationally, and have appeared in Triquarterly, Rattapallax, and El Aleph
June 8 in Rotterdam
Poetry on / as Film with IFFR @ 46th Poetry International Festival Rotterdam
On Monday, 8 June, Poetry International and the International Film Festival Rotterdam jointly present, for the first time, an evening film program at Cinerama. Poetry on / as Film includes the premieres of two exceptional poet-documentaries: John Albert Jansen brings the life of German-Romanian Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller to the screen, and Wim Brands and Peter Gielissen compose a poignant portrait of the Dutch poet Roni Wieg. Additionally, under the name Poetry Shorts, a selection of short films and animated poems will be screened, including work from the festival poets Tonnus Oosterhoff, Pierre Alferi and Yanko González.
I see that the festival also has a brief video trailer.
June 10, 17, 24 & July 1 in Buenos Aires
Seminario de Videopoesía. Un lenguaje entre la palabra, el sonido y la imagen en movimiento.
Four-week course taught by Javier Robledo. Registration closes June 8.
June 13 in London
Mahu in Video at the Hardy Tree Gallery.
The emerging medium of poetry film or cinepoetry, crossing poetic principles with video art has often been overtaken by limited, dualistic collaborations. This evening aims to screen the more complex understandings of this new potentiality, another weapon in the pocket of the contemporary poet – the moving image. Co-curated by Dave Spittle & Gareth Evans
– Films from Joshua Alexander, David Kelly-Mancaux, Simon Barraclough, Caroline Alice Lopez, Robert Herbert McClean & more
June 18-19 in Montpellier, France
PoeTransFi (Poetry/Translation/Film – Poésie/Traduction/Film) Conference
The aim of this conference, which could also be entitled “The film as poem, the poem as film: A spectrum of translations”, is to revisit the inter-relations between poetry and film, envisaged under the angle of translation, in a broad sense of the term. We would like to pay special attention to questions of rhythm and montage, starting from the work of film directors and film editors who wrote about the topic in recent years, particularly Andrei Tarkovsky and Walter Murch.
June 21 in London
PoetryFilm Solstice at The Groucho Club.
Submissions may still be welcome for this event. Here are the guidelines.
Videopoetry showcase and workshop at Annikki Poetry Festival, June 5 & 6
A late addition to the June calendar of videopoetry and poetry-film events. This is the press release by Simo Ollila, the festival producer:
Video Poetry Showcase @ Annikki Poetry Festival on June 6th 2015 in Tampere, Finland
The festival program of 12th annual Annikki Poetry Festival on June 6th 2015 in Tampere, Finland features a special program dedicated to video poetry. The Video Poetry Showcase’s curator, J.P. Sipilä, is responsible for picking the videos shown, which will include classic works of video poetry from the 1970s to today. The video poems will be shown non-stop in the underground gallery throughout the festival.
THE ARTISTS
The artists featured in the Video Poetry Showcase are Artürs Punte (Lithuania), Kristian Pedersen (Norway), Alice Lyons (USA/Ireland), Vessela Dantcheva (Bulgaria), Mariano Rentería Garnica & Raúl Calderón Gordillo (Mexico), Machine Libertine (Russia), Tom Konyves (Canada), Swoon (Netherlands), J.P. Sipilä (Finland) and Jana Irmert (Germany). Read more of the artists: www.annikinkatu.net/runofestivaali/video-poetry-showcase.htm
CURATOR J.P. SIPILÄ:
The Video Poetry Showcase’s curator J.P. Sipilä: “For me video poetry is a genre of poetry where the complete work creates a new overall poetic experience by applying and mixing the elements of film, sound and text. All these ten videopoems present an interesting mixture of the elements,” Sipilä says.
“In the last ten years video poetry has really become more and more known genre of poetry. I would say that it is blooming in all the corners of the world. And I am very happy to see that Annikki Poetry Festival asked me to make this selection for this year’s festival. Video poetry is still a small genre in Finland, but this just might be a beginning of something great…”
VIDEO POETRY WORKSHOP BY SWOON
As part of the festival a free video poetry workshop will be organized on Friday, June 5th. The workshop will be held by Swoon, a.k.a. Marc Neys from Belgium, who is one of the world’s most renowned video poets. During the workshop day attendees will compose one finished video poem, which will be presented the next day during the video poetry showcase at the Annikki Poetry Festival. Read more: www.annikinkatu.net/runofestivaali/video-poetry-workshop.htm
THE ANNIKKI INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL
The Annikki Poetry Festival (est. 2003) has grown to be one of Finland’s foremost poetry events. The festival’s focus is still on poetry, although it has expanded to also include prose, music and the visual arts. Annikki Poetry Festival will be held in the courtyard of the wooden Annikki district in Tampere, Finland on June 6, 2015. The festival’s theme this year is Word Roots. This means that the many events of the festival will reflect on the beginnings and roots of poetry and all verbal art, with folklore being an important focal point. The program features Jamaican dub poetry pioneer Mutabaruka. Read more: www.annikinkatu.net/runofestivaali/english.htm
