Essays

In general, short films tell short stories or surprise us with experimental images and sounds. Poetry films, however, deal content-, aesthetic-, and form-wise, with poems. Because of their high mediality, poetry is a cross-section of art, which the film makes use of in order to create trans-media art. The genre-overarching and public-appealing form of poetry film excellently presents the diversity of poetry.

At the same time, the poetry film is as old as filmmaking itself. In the early days of film, directors took poetry as a basis for their films and poets explored the possibilities of film. In the early 20th century, many filmmakers were inspired by poetry. Probably the first cinematic adaptation of the poem, "’Twas the Night before Christmas" (1822) by Clement Clark Moore was shot by Edwin S. Porter in 1905 in the studios of Thomas Alva Edison. This poetry film was a refined combination of live action and stop motion. Two years later Apollinaire experimented with the cinematic transposition of his poems. Another early example of the influence of poetry on the great directors was the film, “The Unchanging Sea” (1910) by D.W. Griffith based on the eponymous poem by Charles Kingsley. In 1919, Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, USA 1942), under his original name - Mihály Kertesz, shot the film, “Jön az Öcsem”, that was based on the eponymous poem by Antal Farkas and was an early witness to the period of political transition in Hungary. With its futuristic, special features by Walt Whitman’s metropolitan melancholy, Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand set the standards for today, with their film, Manhatta (USA 1921). “L'Invitation au voyage” (F 1927) by Germaine Dulac is a timeless interpretation of Charles Baudelaire's, “Les Fleurs du Mal”. Additional extraordinary works were “Combat de Boxe” (B 1927) by Charles Dekeukeleire, based on a poem by Paul Werrie and, of course, “L'Etoile de Mer” (F 1928) by Man Ray, wherein, the lines of Robert Desnos's poem, “La Place de l'Etoile” (1928) are displayed on boards. In 1930, Rudi Klemm and film pioneer, Julius Pinschewer managed a charming animation film adaptation, “Chad Gadjo” based on the eponymous poem and folk song, which is sung at the Seder on Passover at the end of the Haggadah. In 1936, Lotte Reiniger created the silhouette film, “The King's Breakfast”, in the UK, based on the eponymous poem by A. A. Milne. From the 1940s, a wide variety of poetry films were being shot worldwide on 16mm or 35mm film. In 1941, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera from the USA came up with an animation adaptation of the poem, "’Twas the Night before Christmas" with the famous rivals, Tom and Jerry. This was nominated, in 1942, for an Oscar in the category, "Best Animated Short Film". In the 1950s and 1960s, poetry film reached a climax in the German-speaking countries with experimental films of Austrian poets Ernst Jandl and Gerhard Ruhm. 1970s onwards some poetry films were shot on different video systems.

The analog techniques have long dominated the production of short films, animations, and experimental films. The introduction of the personal computer in the 1980s sparked a technological revolution, as it was henceforth possible to digitally produce or edit the films. What once used to be a very complex task possible only through cartoon film or cut-out animation film, silhouette animation, rotoscoping or drawing or scratching directly onto the film, was now made faster and easier with appropriate computer programs. Initially, the film production companies and universities owned such computer equipment, but since the 2000s, the personal computer and film programs have become affordable. This has also led to a significant increase in poetry films. Easy to use film programs (editing, sound, postproduction, etc.) have enabled the filmmakers to respond to the complexity of poetry. Switching between real and virtual images, or mixing them was thus possible on a larger scale. Henceforth, the film was able to respond structurally to the poem.

In general, the length of a poetry film is between two and ten minutes. The poem, on which the short film is based, can emerge in several ways. Very often it is recited from the offstage, usually by the poet or the poetess themselves. A special form here is the poetry clip, in which the author or the authoress stands in front of the camera and performs the poem with appropriate facial expressions and gestures. Another possible form is the presentation by actors who recite the poem as a part of a short story. Animations often accentuate the underlying poems while experimental films work against the structure of the poem. The results are often very exciting and thrilling.

In recent years, an increase in poetry films that were shot by poets themselves can be observed. While it was the filmmakers at the beginning who adapted foreign poems or their own poems, there are, meanwhile, now recognized poets from Germany, Poland, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and other countries, who are producing remarkable poetry films.

The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival has been biennially announcing the competition for the best poetry film since 2002 and presents the current status of this dynamic short film genre. It offers poets, movies-, and festival organizers an internationally networked platform for location determination and is aimed at a broad public, as well as, movie and poetry interested spectators. A program committee with experts from poetry, film, and media art views and selects the best movies from the applications for the sections "Competition" and "Prism". An international jury composed of filmmakers, poets, media artists, and media representatives elects the contest winners from the nominated films. For the recent ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in 2014 almost 1000 films from 70 countries were submitted.