Poetry film is as old as film itself!

“Poetry films are as old as film-making itself. The oldest known poetry film is from 1905 in the USA, and is called “The night before Christmas”. The next ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival will take place from 16-19 October 2014. We will be screening interesting productions from various decades, and fascinating contemporary works from the whole world.” {Thomas Zandegiacomo Del Bel}.

The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival is a project of the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin in cooperation with interfilm Berlin and with the kind support of the Capital City Cultural Fund (Hauptstadtkulturfonds), the Goethe Institut, the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. It takes place as part of the poesiefestival berlin.

It’s been wonderful to begin to work with and get to know Thomas, who directs ZEBRA in Berlin, which is the most established of our poetry-film festivals. Thomas’s statement “Poetry films are as old as film-making itself” is a truism. We believe poetry-film is about respect for the poet in the first instance and an openness to having their words be the guide. It is also experimental in nature, even though there is a murmur that narrative is anathema to experimental filmmaking! Filmpoem is now working with an experimental film festival in the hope of partnering for 2015.

You can find out more about ZEBRA here.