(Sep, 2012)
New DISCUSSION GUIDE brings conversation to 2012 films.
Motionpoems films are often used in classrooms, bookstores, libraries and elsewhere to introduce new audiences to the world of poetry. Now there’s a Season 2012 Discussion Guide that can help facilitate conversation about each film.
Download your own free PDF version of the 2012 Season Discussion Guide here: MP12 Discussion Guide
The Discussion Guide is packed with provocative commentary from filmmakers and poets, thoughtful questions about the ways in which the languages of film and poetry overlap, and “Try it” writing exercises.
Because our 2012 season is made up of poems drawn from the Best American Poetry 2011 (Scribner), The Discussion Guide refers to content in that volume as well. Together, the films, book, and Discussion Guide make for a lively event.
(July, 2012)
Twelve motionpoems selected for ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in Berlin!
We’re thrilled to announce that twelve motionpoems were chosen from among nearly 900 entries from 63 countries to compete and/or screen at the Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin this October! Work from video artists Emma Burghardt, Angella Kassube, and Amy Schmitt were chosen to compete in the festival. Their films feature poems from K. A. Hays, Thomas Lux, and Erin Belieu. You can view the selected motionpoems here:
“Just As, After a Point, Job Cried Out” | film by Emma Burghardt | poem by K. A. Hays
“Render, Render” | film by Angella Kassube | poem by Thomas Lux
“When at a Certain Party in NYC” | film by Amy Schmitt | poem by Erin Belieu
Judges selected an additional nine motionpoems to screen at the festival. You can see those motionpoems below:
“Andrew Wyeth, Painter, Dies at 91″ | film by Tom Jacobsen | poem by L.S. Klatt
“French Movie” | film by Scott Wenner | poem by David Lehman
“Karl” | film by Scott Wenner | poem by Dag Straumsvag
“Render, Render” | film by Jeff Saunders | poem by Thomas Lux
“Sea Salt” | film by Amy Schmitt | poem by David Mason
“The Cloudy Vase” | film by Jeff Saunders & Scott Olson | poem by Jane Hirshfield
“The Poem of the Spanish Poet” | film by Juan Delcan | poem by Mark Strand
“Thoreau and the Lightning” | film by Adam Tow | poem by David Wagoner
“The Trees – They Were Once Good Men” | film by Emma Burghardt | poem by Todd Boss
Congratulations to all the video artists and poets whose work will be featured!
(Oct, 2011)
Motionpoems to premiere new season at festival screening, Oct 25, 2011.
Join Motionpoems for the premiere of a dozen short films based on poems by major emerging and established poets, including Richard Wilbur, Jane Hirshfield, Erin Belieu, Mark Strand, and many more selected from Best American Poetry 2011, America’s most popular poetry anthology. Celebrate the poets and video artists involved, meet them, and hear the stories behind the projects in this unique collaboration.
Special guest: poet David Lehman, series editor of Best American Poetry
TWO SCREENINGS: October 25, 2011 — 6pm & 8pm at Target Performance Hall, Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue S, Minneapolis
Reception immediately following both screenings in the studios of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts where you can print your own keepsake letterpress broadside courtesy of Kent Aldrich and his Nomadic Press.
Free and open to the public. Seating is limited.
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(Oct, 2011)
Motionpoems announces 2012 Season in partnership with BEST AMERICAN POETRY
In a new pilot-year partnership, Motionpoems will release a dozen new film adaptations of poems from the 2011 volume of BEST AMERICAN POETRY (Scribner) edited by David Lehman and Kevin Young. The poems, to release throughout 2012 on a free subscription basis, are designed to broaden the audience for some of the most vital and interesting new poetry being written in America today. Motionpoems forthcoming include verse from Mark Strand, Richard Wilbur, Jane Hirshfield, Michael Dickman, Matthew Dickman, Erin Belieu, David Wagoner, and more. The poems, first selected for the volume by Lehman and Young, were then selected for development by Motionpoems’s network of video artists.
“We’re thrilled to be working with this kind of talent,” says Motionpoems co-founder Angella Kassube, “both on the poetry side and on the video side. We can’t wait to show you the results.”
To subscribe, fill out the simple form at SUBSCRIBE above. Subscriptions are free.
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(July, 2011)
Motionpoems surpasses $15,000 fundraising goal on Kickstarter.com, gaining 300+ new backers
In its first fundraising year since its founding in 2008, Motionpoems has reached and surpassed a $15,000 goal set a month ago on the fundraising website Kickstarter.com, with donations flooding in from 300+ backers in eight countries. The cash arrives during a period of enormous growth and change for Motionpoems, which is moving from a volunteer-only model to one in which participating video artists can be paid a stipend for their work.
“It’s a stipend, not a salary,” says Motionpoems co-founder Todd Boss. “It doesn’t come close to paying these extraordinary artists what they’re worth, but it’s something. We’re gratified to know that backers agree it’s important to reward great artistic work.”
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(June, 2011)
Motionpoems receives first grant from Minnesota State Arts Board
In its first fundraising year since its founding in 2008, Motionpoems has received a generous grant from the Minnesota State Arts Baord that will allow Motionpoems to host a festival in October 2011 when its new 2012 season is set to premiere. The grant will also allow Motionpoems to bring a guest speaker to the festival, staff it, and promote it.
The grant, offered as part of the State Arts Board’s “Festivals” grant program, will allow Motionpoems to expand its 3rd annual screening to include two showings at 6pm and 8pm on Oct 25, 2011, at the Target Performance Hall at Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue S., Minneapolis. The grant also makes it possible for Motionpoems to bring special guest poet David Lehman, editor of BEST AMERICAN POETRY for 24 years, to appear that evening.
Motionpoems co-founders Todd Boss and Angella Kassube are grateful to the people of Minnesota for this grant. “We are working hard every day to be good stewards of it,” says Kassube.
