I’m often asked by viewers or colleagues to define what poetry film is. For a long time, I would define it by explaining what it isn’t (it’s not a film about poetry, nor poets, etc.). Then I heard Bob Holman, an American poet, saying that there is no such thing as poetry film, but only different kinds of poetry: there is the spoken or performed poetry—the most ancient kind. The second type is written poetry, and even though it can be read aloud in public, it is more a text than a show. The third kind is the filmed poem, or since the HD era, the Video Poem—a type of visual poetry. The basis for most video poems is written poetry, but for good video poems, the written words are only an inspiration. The words become part of a new poem created by the director. The video has a strong and complex relationship with the written poem, but it is no longer the same piece of art.
An essay I wrote about the genre of Poetry -film: Poetry and film can’t live together
Young David
Poetry film | 5 min. | 2005 | Based on a poem by Yehuda Amichai | Produced by Micha Shagrir
:Watch the film, followed by discussion with Bob Holman and Edward Hirsch
Nidon (Condemned)
Poetry film | 5 min. | 2011 | Based on a poem by Haim Lensky
Zman (Time)
Poetry film | 3 min. | 2015 | Based on a poem by Mei-Tal Nadler | Music by Harold Robin
Igra Rama
Poetry film | 3 min. | 2010 | Based on a poem by Tal Nitzan | Music by Anat Gutman
Pond (Teich)
Poetry film | 5 min. | 2010 | Based on a poem by Monika Rinck | Music by Andre Feldhaus
The film was produced at the Film-Workshop held during the 5th ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival, Berlin 2010
Spring '82
Poetry film | 3 min. | 2009 | Based on a poem by T. Carmi | Acrobatics & Choreography by Reenat Caidar
