Sylvia Plath reading poems from Ariel (1962)

Time to Read Poems

The experiences of five free-spirited individuals trying to break free from societal norms. Each narrative discusses creativity, mental health, labor activism and gender politics.

Where is the Final Destination?

A single tree that has witnessed events, a girl who loves Forough, and a boy who reads Sohrab.

TIME

"Time" takes you through the city at night, capturing fleeting moments. With dynamic visuals and an atmospheric soundtrack, this short film explores the nature of existence and memory. Narrated by David Bowie, it invites you to reflect on the passage of time.

Elsa the Rose

Images and poems of the celebrated couple Louis Aragon and Elsa Triolet. Elsa’s youth as recalled by Aragon, with commentary by Elsa.

Alternate Spaces

A short documentary on the River Ouse, following it downstream from Lewes to Newhaven, meditating on the surrounding area.

Love Poems Part II: Alexandria

CATS, SEA, FISHERMEN AND SUNSET. The sequel to the original Love Poems. A short documentary Film capturing beautiful shots in the City of Alexandria followed by a Poem written for the city by Salma Torrez.

unbroken rhythms

a poem. trees. fragments of fritz. love—and nothing besides!

BLIND_CITY

Images complement what is always lacking in words. The poems complement what is always present in the city. Freely inspired by the poetry Cidade City Cité, by Augusto de Campos.

O Poeta Americano

The boy runs after the ball. The worker builds concrete dreams between buildings and soccer balls in a lowland field in Recife. The poet receives a word ball, gives a literal stroke and makes an imaginary goal in this film about football, passion and poetry. João Cabral's America goes beyond the four lines of the field or paper, it transcends time and the field; update the memory to the fact that the love of football will not be volatile or ephemeral, neither in defeat nor in victory.

Passing Time

From the music of Uruguayan composer Florencia Di Concilio, English filmmaker Terence Davies does a cinematic reading of his own poem about his late sister, delivered over a single serene shot of the countryside near his home in Essex. This short film is part of the 2x25 Project of Film Fest Gent and the World Soundtrack Awards. The project commissioned 25 composers to compose a short piece of music, after which 25 filmmakers made short films that are the ultimate symbioses of music and cinematography, fitting completely within the DNA of the festival. The result: 25 exceptional films where the music inspired the form, narrative and texture.

Escargots

An adaptation of a children's poem called Chanson des escargots qui vont à l'enterrement by Jacques Prévert, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Filmed in Paris, France and Los Angeles, California.

The Notebook

An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.

Bull Durham

Veteran catcher Crash Davis is brought to the minor league Durham Bulls to help their up and coming pitching prospect, "Nuke" Laloosh. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start and is further complicated when baseball groupie Annie Savoy sets her sights on the two men.

Ohm Shanthi Oshaana

Pooja Mathew, a spirited young girl, wants to have a love marriage in her life. Thus, she stops at nothing to impress Giri, who saved her once from a group of unruly men.

Sleep Has Her House

The shadows of screams climb beyond the hills. It has happened before. But this will be the last time. The last few sense it, withdrawing deep into the forest. They cry out into the black, as the shadows pass away, into the ground.

Boy Saint

A sumptuous short film of friendship and adoration between boys, based on a poem by Peter LeBerge. Moments of joy, bonding and roughhousing on a school trip to the beach counterpoint one teen boy’s introspective sexual awakenings and questionings. Magnificent cinematography and editing create a visual feast that provides the imagery for a narrated poem by Peter Laberge alluding to early homosexual desires, but with Catholic overtones never directly expressed.

Stealing Beauty

Lucy Harmon, an American teenager is arriving in the lush Tuscan countryside to be sculpted by a family friend who lives in a beautiful villa. Lucy visited there four years earlier and exchanged a kiss with an Italian boy with whom she hopes to become reacquainted.

Northern Lights

Emma approaches adulthood, she tries to live an ordinary life and keep up to her late mothers expectations. However her anxiety weighs over her, stopping her from enjoying the last few youthful years.

Songs from the Second Floor

A monumental traffic jam serves as the backdrop for the lives of the inhabitants of a Swedish city.

For Colored Girls

About existence from the perspective of 20 nameless black females. Each of the women portray one of the characters represented in the collection of twenty poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general and women of color in particular.

No Leaders, Please

Works inspired by artists Basquiat, Banksy, Haring, and Ai Weiwei represent Bukowski's poem's theme of self-invention.

Dear Basketball

An animated telling of Kobe Bryant's titular poem, signaling his retirement from the sport that made his name.

Stickman

The thing that waits under your bed, hides in the closet, stalks your dreams… is waiting for you. At least Emma Wright knew that at the age of 7 when she was wrongly accused of murdering her sister. Emma knew it was the Stickman. After years of isolation she finally has her demons under control and is released.

Hovering Over the Water

Laura Rossellini, a widow from Rome, vacations on the Algarve coast one hot summer. One day while sunbathing, she finds a wounded man named Robert drifting in the surf on a rubber raft. She takes him home, and, after he is revived, learns his story. As they talk, their mutual attraction grows, until a group of armed men suddenly arrive looking for Robert.

When You Finish Saving the World

Evelyn and her oblivious son Ziggy seek out replacements for each other. As Evelyn tries to parent an unassuming teenager at her shelter, Ziggy fumbles through his pursuit of a brilliant young woman at school.

Namoo

A narrative poem brought to life and an ode to a grandfather's passing, NAMOO—which translates to “tree” in Korean—follows the journey of a budding artist from beginning to end.

Billie, Jasmine and the Poet

An interpretive visual to accompany the spoken word poem by Nikki Lorenzo, shot in one day on a hiking trail in Malibu, California.

Kaiyoppu

A amateur writer who seems to have nothing to live for, finds himself as the only hope of three people.

The Cat and the Moon

Nick comes to New York to temporarily live with a jazz musician friend of his late father's named Cal while his mom is in rehab. During his time in the city, he befriends a group of kids who show him what New York has to offer.

Ginger & Rosa

A look at the lives of two teenage girls - inseparable friends Ginger and Rosa -- growing up in 1960s London as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms, and the pivotal event the comes to redefine their relationship.

Lacuna

The portrait of two young women – a loving team that complements each other with all their habits and rituals like two puzzle pieces. This is a declaration of love of a couple – a snapshot of their present and a speculation about our future, because what could happen if a piece of the puzzle is suddenly taken away?

The Boy in the Bubble

Rupert, a ten year old boy, falls hopelessly in love for the first time. When it all goes terribly wrong, he wishes never to experience heartache again. Turning to a book of magic, he invokes a spell to shield him from emotion forever.

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop

After meeting one day, a shy boy who expresses himself through haiku and a bubbly but self-conscious girl share a brief, magical summer.

Shades of Fern

Based on the only extensive prose work by the surrealist painter Josef Capek, Shades of Fern most resembles the philosophical fairy tales and fables of Josef’s older brother, the legendary Czech novelist and playwright Karel Capek. Two young poachers, more boys than men, kill a gamekeeper when they are caught illegally hunting. Panicked, they retreat into a forest that grows steadily more forbidding and deadly as their fear for the future—and guilt over their action—mounts. Loosely based on hundreds of oral folk tales and legends that haunt the woods of Czechoslovakia, Vlácil’s contemporary updating artistically underscores the relationship between man and nature, crime and punishment, isolation and society, and guilt and memory.

Mio on the Shore

Mio is 20 years old. Having lost her parents early, she and her grandmother run a traditional inn in Nagano. However, her grandmother gets sick. Mio moves to Tokyo and lives with her father’s best friend, Kyosuke. He runs a public bath. She begins to work at the public bath, but it is scheduled to be demolished to make way for redevelopment.

Lost in the Feed

A visually dynamic short film , inspired by a poem, that tackles the pressure of unrealistic expectations and social media's impact on self-identity, urging viewers to reflect on their mental health and the small changes needed to reconnect with what truly matters.

Monks

A haiku film poem. the early morning waiting for the monks. the voices. the fire. the wat drum.

The Darkest Hour

A writer in self-exile is haunted by the memory of his long-lost love. Mysterious events and an unexpected visitor are about to offer him a chance to relieve his pain. Based on the famous poem of Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven.

Onion

A short animation based on the poem "Onion" by Wislawa Szymborska.

November.

A man loses himself in melancholic euphoria.

Building No. 7

A short by Steven Soderbergh described as “intense sci-fi homage to Godard.”