Glasgow-based directors Douglas Tyrrell Bunge and Malen Montabes and poet Nasim Łuczaj are all credited as co-writers of this film, and all three appear as actors along with Harvey Dimond. It was made for the 48-hour filmpoem challenge sponsored by Cinepoems on December 2-4. The words are a little difficult to make out over the music, but the shots are too inventive not to share.
Two weeks ago we told you about the 48-hour filmpoem challenge in Glasgow scheduled for this weekend. I must admit, I was skeptical about how many teams would compete, but according to CinePoems’ Twitter feed, no less than 13 teams entered the competition:
THIRTEEN teams are a GO for #48hrfilmpoems in Glasgow! Just under 8 hours to go until the deadline…keep going! You're marvellous, you are!
— AllTheseNewRelations (@cine_poems) December 4, 2016
And all 13 made the deadline:
And that's thirteen for thirteen! All teams successfully completed #48hrfilmpoems ! Screening starting in 10 mins…
— AllTheseNewRelations (@cine_poems) December 4, 2016
Congratulations to all involved. I hope some of the films will make it online so I can share them on Moving Poems. But more importantly, I hope this exercise has made converts out of some more poets and filmmakers! We’ll have to see what further news emerges about this, but it already sounds like a model worth trying to replicate elsewhere.
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.