An arts organization called Lighthouse in Dorset, UK issued a call for submissions back on July 3 which I only just became aware of (sorry!). The deadline is August 20th. They offer a poster version of their call as a PDF, but I’d prefer to share it in text form from their website:

Lighthouse is inviting submissions for an exciting new project highlighting film-poetry, a developing hybrid art-form that connects the apparently disparate worlds of the moving image and the written word.

Film-Poems are typically short, usually just two or three minutes long, featuring a voiceover or talking head and images that connect to the text in some way.

To be launched in October, Film-Poems @ Lighthouse will feature 24 short films to be screened over the course of a year in the Cinema at Lighthouse.

“It’s about exploring new ways of presenting poetry, moving poetry away from people’s expectations and reaching out to the YouTube generation – something to have fun with,” says Lighthouse writer in residence Simon McCormack.

Films can be lo-fi, shot on phones, or they might be packed with wild graphics. There can be a narrative flow or not, literal representations of the words, or something more abstract.

For this series we have chosen the theme of ‘performance’. We want entries to be as adventurous as possible with their interpretation. The idea of performance runs through our everyday experience – there’s the ballet dancer on stage, the paint applied to the canvas, the child carefully spelling a word, the lollipop man holding up traffic and music heard through an open window. Go to the people and places where you find performance and show them to us.”

Submissions guidelines:

Films must be no longer than three minutes.

In the first instance email a link to the entry to submissions@lighthouse.co.uk stating ‘Film-Poems’ in the heading.

Please include a paragraph or two about yourself in the main body of the email.

If accepted we will ask you to send a good digital copy.

By submitting you agree to Lighthouse showing your work in the Cinema. You retain full rights to the work.

The closing date for submissions in 20 August.