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Aliona van der Horst Boris Ryzhy (2009)
‘The Russian poet Boris Ryzhy was handsome, talented and famous. So why did he take his own life at the age of 26? A quest to find the answer takes the filmmaker to the criminal neighbourhood in the cold industrial city of Yekaterinenburg where Boris grew up. Through conversations with family and friends, she pieces together a picture of passionate and complex life of the poet. What emerges is a penetrating portrait of the perestroika generation, who lost all certainties, becoming a generation of criminals and bodyguards. Above all, it is a haunting film about Boris’love for life. Through his poems, pain is transformed into grace. Directed by Aliona van der Horst. Cinematography: Maasja Ooms. In co-production with VPRO.’ — VPRO
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Jonas Mekas Scenes from Allen’s Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit (1997)
‘This is a video record of the Buddhist wake ceremony at Allen Ginsberg’s apartment. You see Allen, now asleep forever, his close friends, and the Buddhist monks conducting the cere- mony, preparing Allen for the travel into the spirit world. You also see Allen being wrapped up and removed from the apartment to the Buddhist Temple. I talk to Peter Orlovsky about Allen’s last days. Later I tape the final farewell at the Buddhist Temple, 118 West 22nd Street, New York City, and many of Allen’s friends, Patti Smith, Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Le Roy Jones- Baraka, Hiro Yamagata, Anne Waldman, and many others who came to say last good-bye to Allen.’ — Jonas Mekas
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Kate Crash Eruptions of Poetry: Anna Homler, LA Woman (2011)
‘Anna Homler is a poet and vocal, visual and performance artist who has been known to invent her own languages; she often plays her collection of antiques, toys and curios thru a variety of digital delays/FX. She is included in Kate Crash’s current interactive documentary created with EZTV’s Michael Masucci. The film, LA Woman, (2011) premiered as part of the Pacific Standard Time initiative sponsored by the Getty Research Institute.’ — collaged
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James Brih Abee Full Blossom: The Life of Roberts Blossom (2000)
‘Despite his long legit career, the poet and actor Roberts Blossom is probably best known for his role as Old Man Marley in the Chris Columbus film Home Alone. He also appeared in Slaughterhouse-Five, The Great Gatsby, Escape From Alcatraz, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Quick and the Dead, Always and The Last Temptation of Christ. He also starred in a horror film, 1974’s Deranged, that was based on the life of serial killer Ed Gein. He was also a published poet, writing every day for 60 years. A documentary on his life, Full Blossom: The Life of Poet/Actor Roberts Blossom, was made in 2000 and featured Ed Asner, Peter Brook and director Robert Frank, as well as members of Blossom’s family.’ — Variety
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Aristede Craig Jr. Aristede the Poet Documentary (2013)
‘Aristede Craig Jr. uploaded a video.’
the entire film
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John Dullaghan Bukowski: Born into This (2003)
‘Director John Dullaghan’s biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of the author as it is an exposé of his sordid lifestyle. Interspersed between ample vintage footage of Bukowski’s poetry readings are interviews with the poet’s fans including such legendary figures such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joyce Fante (wife of John), Bono, and Harry Dean Stanton. Filmed in grainy black and white by Bukowski’s friend, Taylor Hackford, due to lack of funding, the old films edited into this movie paint Bukowski’s life of boozing and brawling romantically, securing Bukowski’s legendary status.’ — Top Documentary Films
the entire film
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David Hoffman Michael Yetnikoff: Child Poet (1968)
‘This 30-minute documentary that reveals the life and poetry of a ten-year-old poet, Michael Yetnikoff. Michael says that he has been a poet since he could write. He shares his thoughts and his poems with veteran documentary filmmaker, David Hoffman. The result is a tale about a ten-year-old boy whose poetry contains way with words and intelligence way beyond his years. Michael reads his poems and offers insight into what created them. He even writes a poem about the documentary.’ — DH
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Melanie La Rosa The Poetry Deal: A Film with Diane Di Prima (2012)
‘She remains the most famous women poet of the Beat Generation; her friend Allen Ginsberg calling her “heroic in life and poetics”. THE POETRY DEAL: A FILM WITH DIANE DI PRIMA is an impressionistic documentary about legendary poet Diane di Prima. The most well known female writer of the Beat Era, di Prima is fierce, funny, and philosophical, still actively writing in her late 70s in San Francisco, where she is poet laureate. She is a pioneer who broke boundaries of class and gender to publish her writing, and THE POETRY DEAL opens a window looking back through more than 50 years of poetry, activism, and cultural change, providing a unique women’s perspective of the Beat movement. THE POETRY DEAL puts di Prima’s life and work on screen in a unique, beautiful portrait using rare archival material, impressionistic scenes shot in Super8 and 16mm, stories told by friends and colleagues—and di Prima’s powerful writing.’ — WMMNYC
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Ron Mann Poetry in Motion (1982)
‘To say that Poetry in Motion, Ron Mann’s 1982 documentary, is the greatest poetry documentary of all time doesn’t really quite give the film its due. Thirty years on, the film still holds up as an anthology and time capsule, one that’s on a par with or even surpasses its print inspiration, Donald Allen’s New American Poetry: 1945-1960. It arrived in theaters and video stores at a time when poetry was reasserting itself as an oral and performance-based art, a synthesis of previous countercultural movements with free jazz, punk rock, and theater of cruelty cabaret. The 24 poet performers portrayed in the film read like a who’s who of late 20th-century American countercultural poetry: Helen Adam, Miguel Algarin, Amiri Baraka, Ted Berrigan, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, John Cage, Jim Carroll, Jayne Cortez, Robert Creeley, Christopher Dewdney, Diane Di Prima, Kenward Elmslie, Four Horsemen, Allen Gingsberg, John Giorno, Michael McClure, Ted Milton, Michael Ondaatje, Ed Sanders, Ntozake Shange, Gary Snyder, Tom Waits and Anne Waldman.’ — collaged
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Danila Usov Graveyard Poet (2007)
‘This is a story of Paul Berry, a grave yard tenant and a poet. In addition to Berry, the documentary includes Greg Berry and Mike Eagle as narrator. Gil Raitses and Morgan Denner also have contributed with cinematography. It was shot on a night of the big snow storm.’ — DU
the entire film
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Matthew Furey Red Poet (2009)
‘The film was accepted into 8 film festivals including the Rome Independent Film Festival in Italy & the Bradford International Film Festival (hosted by the British National Media Museum). Film Maker Matthew Furey’s Red Poet paints a soulful picture of San Francisco’s own Jack Hirschman and brings to the silver screen the singular life of this troubadour for modern times. A modest Bronx childhood first gives way to a shooting star career in academia. Controversial teaching stints at Dartmouth and UCLA make him anathema to the academy; he is fired for his opposition to the Vietnam War. Soon Hirschman finds himself penniless and homeless on the streets of San Francisco. Through it all, Hirschman perseveres, continues to write his poems and publish over 100 books of poetry. Red Poet recounts a tale of a life lived on its own terms: against all odds, a unique poetic talent finds personal redemption through his art and his poetry.’ — MF
the entire film
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Sara Sackner Concrete! (2006)
‘Concrete! is documentary about the Sackner-Archive, in Miami, the largest private collection of concrete and visual poetry. Over sixty-thousand objects from around the world speak volumes about a compulsive and joyful life of collecting art, poetry, and artist books. Founded in 1979, this “archive of archives” initially focused on concrete and visual poetry—including rare manuscripts and published works by international luminaries such as Augusto and Haroldo de Campos, Oyvind Fahlström and Eugen Gomringer. The collection subsequently grew to encompass a broad array of historic and contemporary works that synthesize word and image. Rooted in the early to mid-20th-century European avant-garde, the collection provides a unique lens through which to examine the foundational movements of modernism, including Italian Futurism, Russian Constructivism, Bauhaus, De Stijl, Dada and Lettrisme, among others. The Sackners’ contemporary holdings are also expansive, with special strengths in artists’ books and “assemblings” (limited-edition groupings of materials by numerous contributors), as well as various subgenres such as typewriter art, performance poetry and micrography (abstract or representational designs comprised of minuscule lettering).’ — Ubuweb
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CrimeTV William Bradford: The Death Row Poet (2003)
‘William Richard “Bill” Bradford (1948–2008) was an American murderer who was incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison for the 1984 murders of his 15-year-old neighbor Tracey Campbell and barmaid Shari Miller. In July 2006, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released a compilation of photos found in Bradford’s apartment in the 1980s, depicting 54 different women in modelling poses. As Bradford had used the promise of a modelling career to lure his victims, and taken pictures of Miller before murdering her, police believe that Bradford was in fact a serial killer and that the photos depict Bradford’s other victims in the moments before their deaths. Bradford died at the Vacaville prison medical facility on March 10, 2008, of cancer. In 1998, Bradford dropped all of his appeals, claiming that life in San Quentin had become unbearable. Having had no legal representation for the past 10 years, Bradford hired a lawyer to help speed the process of his execution, and began writing poems about life in San Quentin. His poetry attracted attention from the press, who dubbed him “Death Row Poet”. Five days before his scheduled execution, Bradford said that he had changed his mind, professing his innocence and declaring that he wanted the execution process to be halted.’ — collaged
the entire film
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Gustave Reininger Corso: The Last Beat (2009)
‘Although hailed by Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg as an exceptionally gifted mind and poet, Gregory Corso is, by comparison, the unsung Beat, never achieving the same renown as the movement’s three most celebrated icons. But he probably was the most colorful of the bunch, and Gustave Reininger’s 10-years-in-the-making documentary, Corso: The Last Beat, finally brings him to the big screen. The film’s somewhat uneven style — at once an artistic documentary, home movie and sometimes overly conventional for such an unconventional subject — might hamper its chances for traditional television platforms. But Corso should be seen, not simply because Reininger’s respect and love for his subject obviously run deep, but because the film is a moving portrait of an artist of unwavering loyalty to his artistry.’ — Hollywood Reporter
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Bradley Gillespie Frick (2014)
‘Roughly a year ago, I had the opportunity to meet one of my idols, Steve Roggenbuck. Steve is an alt-lit poet that is actively embracing new techniques of spreading his awe-inspiring words across the globe. Gaining popularity through use of his quick, comedic videos via YouTube, Steve disorients you to a point where you’re not sure how to take his art, but regardless, leaves you with a deep feeling in your stomach to better yourself. My deepest apologies for taking so long on getting the video out. Thank you Steve for taking the time out to make this video, which turned out to be one of my favorite I’ve shot in my entire career as a director. Boost!’ — BG
the entire film
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Richard O. Moore USA: POETRY, FRANK O’HARA (1966)
‘USA: Poetry was produced and directed by Richard O. Moore for National Education Television. The twelve part documentary series which was produced in 1965-66, showcased many poets including, Anne Sexton, John Wieners, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, John Ashbery, William Everson, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, Kenneth Koch, Ed Sanders, Michael McClure, Philip Whalen, Richard Wilbur, Denise Levertov, and Louis Zukofsky. The program featuring Frank O’Hara was filmed on March 5, 1966 and originally aired on September 1, 1966.’ — poetry foundation.org
the entire film
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Barbara Hammer Welcome To This House (2015)
‘Welcome To This House (2015), a feature documentary film on the homes and loves of poet Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), about life in the shadows, and the anxiety of art making without full self-disclosure. Hammer filmed in Bishop’s ‘best loved homes’ in the U.S., Canada, and Brazil believing that buildings and landscapes bear cultural memories. Interviews with poets, friends, and scholars provide “missing documents” of numerous female lovers. Bishop’s intimate poetry is beautifully performed by Kathleen Chalfant and with the creative music composition by Joan La Barbara brings Bishop into our lives with new facts and unexpected details.’ — bh
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Robert Mugge Black Wax (1983)
‘The films of Robert Mugge engage crucially not only with the sounds but also the philosophies of the artists whose work they explore, and it is difficult to imagine two more philosophically engaged artists than the incendiary poet/songwriter/vocalist Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011) and the exploratory keyboardist, composer and bandleader Sun Ra (1914-1993). In two classic documentaries, newly remastered for Blu-ray and DVD by MVD Visual, Mugge mounts the stages on which these ineffable creators plied their deeply felt trades. In 1982’s Black Wax, Mugge captures a Washington, D.C., performance featuring Scott-Heron and his Midnight Band (under the guidance of bassist and “Secretary of Entertainment” Robert Gordon), interspersed with casually graceful scenes of the vocalist guiding the viewer on a “tour” of the nation’s capital. Scott-Heron puts caustic verbal thumbscrews to iconic figures of the American past and, in poetic verse, excoriates the poverty thriving in the inner cities while “Whitey’s on the moon.” Scott-Heron is leftist in his views, but he declares himself merely a member of the “Common Sense Party,” his cultural role that of a “bluesologist.”’ — Jazz Times
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Matt Wolf I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard (2012)
‘This inventive biography of Joe Brainard gives an immediate and visceral sense of his humour, self-deprecating personality, and gentle demeanour. Brainard’s drawings, collages, assemblages and paintings, as well as his short essays and verbal-visual collaborations, were celebrated during his lifetime before he stopped making art in the mid-1980s. The film is an elliptical dialogue about friendship, nostalgia and the strange wonders of memory.’ — IFFR
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Mark Pellington The United States of Poetry (1995)
‘Originally aired in 1996 as a five part series on PBS, “The United States of Poetry” is an excellent presentation of twentieth century poetry. This two-part series includes a wide variety of poets, such as Czeslaw Milosz, Rita Dove, and Allen Ginsberg, alongside actors and musicians such as Johnny Depp (reading Jack Kerouac) and Lou Reed. Former President Jimmy Carter also makes an appearance, reading his own work. The series has been praised for its inventive and artistic camera work and its refusal to be boring: “USOP tosses aside the textbook approach to poetry and drags it, kicking and screaming… into this wired world… it’s poetry as you’ve never experienced it” (TV Guide).’ — poets.org
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p.s. Hey. A very kind reader of this blog has curated a film/video show featuring documentaries about poets for us, and it’s quite something, as you will see if you haven’t. Please poke around and learn about some poets you know and don’t know. And, as ever with guest-posts, please do give a shout of some sort to your host BrianWallis to show that you appreciate the time he took and the effort he made. Thanks, folks, and thank you so very much, Brian! ** Scunnard, Hey, J! Awesome to see you, and thanks so much! You’re in Prague? Whoa. And it’s hot and hailing? Whoa. What are you doing there? Max-enjoy whatever it is. ** Ferdinand, Hi, Ferdinand. So nice to see you! It’s been too long. Thanks about ‘My Mark’. I forgot all about that anthology. Huh. The audible add-on angle makes sense, yeah. ‘McGlue’: I’ll get it. Cool. Sweet about the zine, not to mention the synth. Envy (not that I’d know where to start with one.) No, I’m in Paris. Probably won’t get to the States until mid-October for my annual Halloween jaunt, but you never know. Take care, man. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. I watched a very drunk, rambunctious Paul Lynde get thrown out of a hustler bar once, as I’ve probably told you repeatedly. ** Kyler, Thanks, K! ** Sypha, Well, in this case, you’ll never see the book because it’s only being shown at Art Basel and sold there in a ltd. ed. of 3. You can decide what you think of a song without having to hear the album it’s on. Maybe think about the gif works like that? I’ll go read that tempting interview, thanks. Everyone, Here’s Sypha: ‘Oh, a friend of mine, the occultist writer Justin Isis, today posted a big interview with another friend of mine, the occultist writer Damian Murphy. I recommend it, it’s really fascinating.’ ** Steve Erickson, Thank you, Steve. No, you’re not reading too much into it at all. ‘Jawline’ sounds quite interesting. Noted re: first possible access point. Everyone, Steve has put out his two cents (well, obviously more than two) about the new Emma Thompson film vehicle ‘Late Night’ if you’d like a trustable opinion. Here. ** WithKeatonHangingOutTheAnus, Well, well, well, Keaton my man! How’s it hanging? Demo? Dropping? Ooh, I think I need that. I guess it must be Pride over here too. You sound like life is yum, and that’s yum to hear, bud. ** _Black_Acrylic, Thanks, Ben. How’s that Diego Maradona film then? ** Bill, Hey, B. Well, if it’s the same display set up that Cabinet Gallery used when it showed a couple of my gif novels in a group show a while back, there’ll be a large monitor on a wall and then a small table, chair with a keyboard so the viewer can scroll through the novel or read it. So, no, not pre-sequenced as far as I know. You’re reading ‘Ice’! Nice one. It’s true that when people have talked about ‘LDJiN’, they do seem to start by talking about its tech, especially some unbelievable hour-long tracking shot or something? I figured with that title it wasn’t going to be a crisp 90 minute thing, ha ha. How is that William Jones novel? I’ve read fair amount about it but I still can’t figure what it is. Brainy subversive porn? ** Okay. I intro’d the post up top, so, again, I hope you enjoy it and let Brian know you care. Thanks. See you tomorrow.
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