2024 Midwest Video Poetry Fest Night 2

Join us for the second night of the 2024 Midwest Video Poetry Fest on Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 7 PM for live reading and video collaborations followed by a screening of the best new poetry videos from around the world. These films include original poems, experimental works, animation, translations, and more. Filmmakers, poets, and festival organizers will be on hand for a short Q&A after the screening.

Tonight's live video poetry collaboration is by Diya Abbas and Natalie Hinckley.

This event will be held live at ALL in Madison. Seating is limited.

Midwest Video Poetry Fest 2024 is funded in part by a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Wisconsin Humanities strengthens our democracy through educational and cultural programs that build connections and understanding among people of all backgrounds and beliefs throughout the state. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

1) simple simple simple (1m22s)
Directed by Stuart Pound
Written by Rosemary Norman
United Kingdom
Stuart Pound Vimeo

The last paragraph of Alice in Wonderland disappears word by word as the voice-over re-arranges them, offering an alternative future for Alice.

2) foot cleansing (01m40s)
Directed by
Written by Amy Lin
New Jersey, United States

In this animated poem by a 16-year-old Asian American high school student, a grandmother reflects on the passage of time as her daughter washes her feet.

3) Blink Once (03m17s)
Directed by Jim Haverkamp
Written by Karin Gottshall
Texas, United States

Playful and surprising, this video poem features an ambiguous figure with a metal detector reminiscing about teen years spent reading, showing silent films, and fantasizing about Buster Keaton.

4) Supernova (3m59s)
Directed by Flora Xie
Written by Naomii Seah
New Zealand

In this short film, identities and realities are blurred, superimposed, shifted, and distorted. In collaboration with the poet Naomi Seah, director and photographer Flora Xie lays out a visual feast, exploding the meanings of the text and bringing a new dimension to the original work.

5) Romance (3m00s)
Directed by Peter Johnston
Written by Cindy Hunter Morgan
Michigan, United States

This moving paean to a Midwestern childhood of horses and Avon features clip from such Westerns as Once Upon a Time in the West and The Magnificent Seven.

6) Close Spaces (3m34s)
Directed by
Written by Kamari Bright
Washington, United States

In response to a public health crisis that encouraged isolation and distance, "Close Spaces" utilizes African American vernacular English (AAVE) to highlight and exalt the intimate and confined spaces that drive the genuine, everyday connections that are necessary for humanity.

7) Heartbreak (03m17s)
Directed by
Written by Jaliya Bird
Angola

“Heartbreak” reminds us that our record of survival as proof of our strength. How many resurrections do you need in order to understand that women like you do not die?

8) Re:Growth (3m16s)
Directed by
Written by Douglas Ridloff
United States
Douglas Ridloff

The hearing community has, through the course of history, treated the Deaf community as a particularly undesirable species of weed. This poem reframes the community as a stubbornly resilient population, capable of growth and beauty.

9) Lo que cuenta / What Counts (3m48s)
Directed by Eric Felipe-Barkin
Written by Óscar Cruz
Florida, United States

Legna Rodríguez Iglesias performs Cuban poet Óscar Cruz's poem of dog-fighting, "Lo que cuenta," against footage that underscores Cruz's theme of the brutality of humankind.

10) Dream Killer (2m52s)
Directed by
Written by Patrick Moser
Florida, United States
Patrick Moser

An experimental dreamscape of puppets trying and failing to do the right thing.

11) Insurance Man 1946 (2m29s)
Directed by Matthew Thompson
Written by Sean Hill
Montana, United States

Sean Hill performs his villanelle "Insurance Man 1946" in which the constant threat not only of accidents but of radicalized violence is used to squeeze premiums out of a working man.

12) Cuando Fui Clandestino / When I Was Clandestine (4m47s)
Directed by Ian Gibbins
Written by Juan Garrido Salgado
United Kingdom
Ian Gibbins

"My verse is born by the nights of the curfew... Nobody suspected my international studies. Otherwise I would’ve been charcoal on the grill of the House of Torture of the Borgoño…” Juan Garrido Salgado immigrated to Australia from Chile in 1990, fleeing the regime that burned his poetry, imprisoned him, and tortured him for his political activism.

13) Memphis Blues (4m42s)
Directed by Khalid Ali
Written by seangarrison
Minnesota, United States
seangarrison

Seangarrison, a Minneapolis-based artist, responds to the news of another Black man's murder through poetry and painting.

14) Extraterrestrial Diamonds (6m27s)
Directed by Stefan Verna
Written by Tawhida Tanya Evanson
Canada
Mother Tongue Media

“Extraterrestrial Diamonds” is the sixth track off of CYANO SUN SUITE, a visual album is an afro-ancestral dream told through word, sound and science shot at the iconic Montreal Biosphere. Featuring improvised music by members of Kalmunity Vibe Collective.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.

CALENDAR

2024 Midwest Video Poetry Fest Night 2

1) simple simple simple (1m22s) Directed by Stuart Pound Written by Rosemary Norman United Kingdom Stuart Pound Vimeo The last paragraph of Alice in Wonderland disappears word by word as the voice-over re-arranges them, offering an alternative future for Alice.

2) foot cleansing (01m40s) Directed by Written by Amy Lin New Jersey, United States In this animated poem by a 16-year-old Asian American high school student, a grandmother reflects on the passage of time as her daughter washes her feet.

3) Blink Once (03m17s) Directed by Jim Haverkamp Written by Karin Gottshall Texas, United States Playful and surprising, this video poem features an ambiguous figure with a metal detector reminiscing about teen years spent reading, showing silent films, and fantasizing about Buster Keaton.

5) Romance (3m00s) Directed by Peter Johnston Written by Cindy Hunter Morgan Michigan, United States This moving paean to a Midwestern childhood of horses and Avon features clip from such Westerns as Once Upon a Time in the West and The Magnificent Seven.

7) Heartbreak (03m17s) Directed by Written by Jaliya Bird Angola “Heartbreak” reminds us that our record of survival as proof of our strength. How many resurrections do you need in order to understand that women like you do not die?

9) Lo que cuenta / What Counts (3m48s) Directed by Eric Felipe-Barkin Written by Óscar Cruz Florida, United States Legna Rodríguez Iglesias performs Cuban poet Óscar Cruz's poem of dog-fighting, "Lo que cuenta," against footage that underscores Cruz's theme of the brutality of humankind.

10) Dream Killer (2m52s) Directed by Written by Patrick Moser Florida, United States Patrick Moser An experimental dreamscape of puppets trying and failing to do the right thing.

11) Insurance Man 1946 (2m29s) Directed by Matthew Thompson Written by Sean Hill Montana, United States Sean Hill performs his villanelle "Insurance Man 1946" in which the constant threat not only of accidents but of radicalized violence is used to squeeze premiums out of a working man.

13) Memphis Blues (4m42s) Directed by Khalid Ali Written by seangarrison Minnesota, United States seangarrison Seangarrison, a Minneapolis-based artist, responds to the news of another Black man's murder through poetry and painting.