Filmpoem is an artists’ moving image project founded by Alastair Cook. We deliver cultural projects and promote the work of poets, filmmakers and composers. Filmpoem has been commissioned by cultural organisations such as Southbank, Poetry International, Poetry Society, Scottish Poetry Library, Alchemy, Antwerpen Boekenstad, Poëziecentrum and Haus für Poesie.
“The combination of film and poetry is an attractive one. For the poet, perhaps a hope that the filmmaker will bring something to the poem: a new audience, a visual attraction, the laying of way markers; for the filmmaker a fixed parameter to respond to, the power of text sparking the imagination with visual connections and metaphor.” – Alastair Cook, Anon 7
Filmpoem’s current core team comprises editor and director Alastair Cook, electro-acoustic composer Luca Nasciuti and cinematographer James William Norton. We are based in the United Kingdom of Words, travel well and are open to commission. The full archive of Alastair's poetry-film is held by the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Life Breath Songs
Òrain Beò-analach is a three film cycle from the People’s Poem project supported by the Scottish Government and driven by the Makar, Kathleen Jamie Commissioned by the Scottish Poetry Library, the triptych is called “The Life Breath Songs – toward a nature poem, written by the people of Scotland”, and is curated and arranged by […] read more

“Hands Across the Sea” Keynote
Watch Alastair Cook’s Keynote for “Film-Poetry, Hybridity and Cultural Resilience in the Scottish Highlands & Islands and Western Brittany” (An Lanntair, Stornoway). This short keynote contains an introduction to Filmpoem and five of Alastair’s films with short discussions between each. 06’08” Filmpoem 02 Scene 09’10” Filmpoem 09 Abachan 11’30” Filmpoem 19 The Gun 16’05” Filmpoem […] read more

Filmpoem 60 The Sword
Olav H. Hauge was one of Norway’s most prominent poets in the post-war period. An apple grower by trade, his poetry was rooted in home in Ulvik where he lived and farmed – he pursued a broader knowledge through extensive reading. His collections have been published in twenty-five languages and a museum in his honour […] read more
All images and films are copyright Alastair Cook 2022 unless expressly indicated otherwise.