Rumi: Poet of the Heart(1998)

We Real Cool(en)

Using simple, illuminative paper-cut puppetry, this enchanting video imagines the moment of witness that inspired Gwendolyn Brooks to write her landmark poem, “We Real Cool.”

Se dice poeta(es)

Santino(pt)

sucking on words(en)

sucking on words is a documentary film that features interviews with, and extensive performances by, the American poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It also features critical commentary on his intense and ground-breaking conceptualist practice from three of North America’s leading voices on avant-garde poetics. Shot on location in New York in 2007, the lively conversations featured in sucking on words are an ideal introduction to Goldsmith’s witty and provocative works, which are already regarded as hallmarks of 21st-century literature. The film showcases readings from some of his notorious books: No.111 (found phrases ending in the ‘r’ rhyme and filtered alphabetically by syllable count); Soliloquy (a transcription of every word Goldsmith spoke for a week); Day (a retyping of one day’s New York Times newspaper); Traffic (one day’s worth of hourly radio traffic bulletins); and The Weather (one year’s worth of radio weather bulletins).

Dust Flower Flame(en)

Tahirih Qurrat al-Ayn was first Iranian women right activist, Bab-i fighter ,theologian,poet. Tahirih was a woman of letters who lived in the nineteenth-century. Her name is synonymous with the emancipation of women and social justice and her life has inspired generations of women ever since, particularly Iranian women’s right movements.Since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran forbids any literature or discourse that portrays Tahirih in a positive light. Her name has been removed from the latest editions of history books published in Iran.

A Life Together: Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon(en)

Performance and conversation with husband-and-wife poets Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon at a New Jersey festival, in their Wilmot (N.H.) hometown and their Eagle Pond farmhouse.

...a slovo Básňou sa stalo(sk)

W.S. Merwin: To Plant a Tree(en)

A documentary on the life and work of Poet Laureate, two-time Pulitzer winner, and environmental activist W.S. Merwin.

A Farra do Circo(pt)

This documentary highlights the evolution of Brazil's Circo Voador venue from homespun artists' performance space to national cultural institution.

Autography(pt)

A documentary that portrays not only the poet and painter Mario Cesariny but as well his life, his journey and his individuality.

The Voyage of Bashô(fr)

A fictionalised documentary about the great Japanese poet Bashô (1644–1694), the spiritual father of haiku poetry. A monk, portraying the poet, journeys through Japan, following Bashô's journal and writing many of his haikus. A ruminant, poetic, Zen Buddhist observation of nature – a return to the lost paradise of unspoilt nature.

Poets Against the Bomb(en)

An event organised by CND pits the bomb against poetry. Hear artists who hoped that words and rhymes could put an end to destructive times.

War of Words: Battle Rap in the UK(en)

WAR OF WORDS is an energizing, controversial and inspiring feature documentary that lifts the lid on the fast growing UK Battle Rap scene. The documentary is an examination of an exciting subculture of youth in the UK today; their creativity and work ethic, their passion for language and ability to control their own destiny. It investigates freedom of expression and respect for other cultures and lifestyles. While the language is often harsh and unflinching, the 'anything goes' philosophy of the battle arena results in one of the most harmonious and creative scenes in youth culture. The film is a truly entertaining expose on how the UK has embraced this American art form, creating one of the most exciting youth subcultures happening right now.

No Regret(en)

Five gay Black men who are HIV-positive discuss how they are battling the double stigmas surrounding their infection and homosexuality.

Posted by: İlhan Sami Çomak(tr)

The story puts İlhan Çomak at the center, even though he is not physically present in the film. It focuses on the 21 years that İlhan spent in prison and his family’s experience of those years without him. The narrative is constructed through the letters İlhan wrote and aims to describe his life, his emotions and longings. The film constructs İlhan’s history through a chronology in the prison but refrains from restricting it only to a “prisoner’s quest for justice”, and rather tells a story of the situations he finds himself in over the years and his emotions and their equivalents in life.

Incitatus(ru)

The film features the wonderful poet of the early 20th century, Count Vasily Komarovsky. The poets Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam, among other celebrities, were not only his acquaintances but he had a considerable influence on their work. The poet’s extraordinary life gave birth to legends, whose plausibility will also be dwelt upon. Komarovsky’s niece will share her recollections with the viewer. The film is based on unique documents previously unknown to Russian and foreign scholars.

Mystic Journey to India(en)

Craig Hamilton-Parker stumbles upon a 5,000 year old Indian oracle that has his name written on it. When translated, it reveals the story of his life with 100% accuracy. The oracle proclaims what will happen in the future - even giving the exact time he will die.

Libellula gentile. Fabio Pusterla, il lavoro del poeta(it)

A film about the Swiss Italian poet Fabio Pusterla and his creative poetic process, his struggle to find an honest language, one which adheres to the personal experience and is able to unfold a hidden truth that creates a strong and profound bond with the other, with his public.

Faya Dayi(om)

A spiritual journey into the highlands of Harar, immersed in the rituals of khat, a leaf Sufi Muslims chewed for centuries for religious meditations – and Ethiopia’s most lucrative cash crop today. A tapestry of intimate stories offers a window into the dreams of youth under a repressive regime.

Nobody(es)

Half blind and half deaf, ostraziced Cuban writer Rafael Alcides tries to finish his unpublished novels to discover that after several decades, the home made ink from the typewriter he used to write them has faded. The Cuban revolution as a love story and eventual deception is seen through the eyes of a man who is living an inner exile.