For our second annual Midwest Video Poetry Fest, we're thrilled to present two nights of some of the best video poetry from the Midwest and around the world. These films include original poems, animation, translations, and more.
This event will be held live at ALL in Madison and at Woodland Pattern in Milwaukee.
MVPF 2021 Day One will also be available on our YouTube channel starting October 11 until October 25.
The first program is Friday, October 8, 2021 at 7:00pm CST.
1) I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always (4m06s)
Directed by Laura Iancu
Written by Douglas Kearney
Virginia, United States
A poem extracted from a Douglas Kearney public zoom reading with a visual treatment by Laura Iancu.
2) Whereupon the Cardinal: A Motion Graphic (2m35s)
Directed by Danielle Langdon
Written by Peter Monacell
Missouri, United States
Danielle Langdon on Vimeo
This video manipulates letters, words and stanzas of the poem “Whereupon the Cardinal,” inviting the viewer to engage with the work in a new and personal way.
3) Vile Figs (1m55s)
Directed by Michèle Saint-Michel
Written by Luke Kennard
Missouri, United States
Michèle Saint-Michel's Website
On its face "Vile Figs" considers our complicated relationship with technology and surveillance. At the heart center is the astounding question: is there a point where we stop extending compassion?
4) A Song ()
Directed by Rene Reinhardt, Thadeusz Tischbein
Written by Joseph Brodsky, Rene Reinhardt, Thadeusz Tischbein
Germany
The poet Joseph Brodsky reading one of his best-known poems, "A Song" (which begins with the iconic "I wish you were here, dear..."), set to a haunting film and soundtrack.
5) Salty Pie (2m38s)
Directed by Caroline Rumley
Written by Caroline Rumley
United States
Caroline Rumley's Website
People in the US like to spend Thanksgiving Day with family, but with the ever-increasing rise of blatant racism, traveling home for food and football becomes impossible as political views collide.
6) Selected Milk, Chapter 4: Diction (5m08s)
Directed by Jose Luis Ducid, Alfonso Camarero, Maria Meseguer
Written by Jose Luis Ducid
Spain
“Selected Milk (Added from Reconstituted Milk Powder Whole Pasteurized Homogenized)” is a manual for sellers of milk cartons in supermarkets. Meanwhile, the scenes reflects the flashes of life of a potential seller who does not meet the criteria for a milk carton salesman.
7) He Runs (3m03s)
Directed by Greg Roensch
Written by Greg Roensch
California, United States
This short animated film was inspired by the tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020.
8) M.e (6m)
Directed by Joanna Maxellon
Written by Joanna Maxellon, Nora Gomringer
Germany
Based on the poem "Monster und Mädchen" by Nora Gomringer, asks: is gender a surrender? Or a strategy of survival?
9) SL/ABB/ED (3m05s)
Directed by Adam Steiner, Ben Cook
Written by Adam Steiner
United Kingdom
Disapper Here Website
The doing of work
Is done to us
Meat-born
Machines
Driven by blood
10) Getting On with It (3m40s)
Directed by Elizabeth Torres Hansen
Written by Elizabeth Torres Hansen
Denmark
Madam Neverstop Website
Experimental short film from the book "The Ways of the Firefly," about a coal collector who has kidnapped a firefly.
11) Entre Les Images (4m00s)
Directed by Vito A. Rowlands
Written by Vito A. Rowlands
Belgium
Vito A. Rowlands Website
"Entre Les Images" is a found footage film composed of preserved 35mm nitrate film frames from over 100 silent films, a large number of them irrevocably lost or only partially preserved, with nothing to mark their presence outside of these majestic few frames.
12) Narrow the Vessels (1m43s)
Directed by Marilyn McCabe
Written by
United States
This video employs excerpts from "Amer" by Saint-John Perse and the Iliad by Homer in response to Anselm Kiefer's sculpture "Étroits sont les Vaisseaux" (concrete, steel, lead and earth; 2002).
13) We Have Become Children (1m48s)
Directed by Erica Goss
Written by Al Rempel
Oregon, United States
Erica Goss's Website
so we too open our lips to mouth our prayers like water over stones
14) In This Together? (3m46s)
Directed by Bairbre Flood
Written by Bairbre Flood
Ireland
"In This Together?" is a three-part video poem collaboration with photographer Ahmad Rezai and artists: Zeinab Nourzehi (Refugees Art), Baqir Safari and Maisam Ali, on how our experiences of lockdown - fear, loneliness, disruption, life on pause - are everyday reality for people seeking refuge. Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.
15) Dulce Et Decorum Est (4m58s)
Directed by Walter Haussner
Written by Wilfred Owen
Oregon, United States
Powerful, contemporary reading of poem by Wilfred Owen, a World War I poet who was killed in action at the age of 25.
16) DMZ (0m51s)
Directed by Elaine Johanson
Written by Elaine Johanson
Pennsylvania, United States
To create a battlefield,
draw a line.
then send renewable boys in
to stitch it down.
17) How Long Will You Sleep (5m30s)
Directed by Marilyn Freeman
Written by Marilyn Freeman
Washington, United States
Inspired by a troubled meditation on a medieval saint, this spacious poetic film is about consciousness, love and the filmy air of eternity in the everyday.
Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.
Our galleries are normally 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.