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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
Trailer
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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
Excerpt
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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
Excerpt
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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
Trailer
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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
Excerpt
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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
Trailer
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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
the entire film
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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
Trailer
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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
Trailer
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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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p.s. Hey. Dedicated silent blog reader BrianWallis asked me if he could use the post space to recommend some documentary films on poets to you, and I said, Sure, of course! If the formatting looks familiar that's because he curated and I set the thing up, but I'm just the bricklayer, and Brian gets all the credit. There's everything from the invaluable to total weirdos in there, so check it out, please, and speak to our shy but diligent guest-host if you will. Thanks, and thanks very much, BW. ** gucciCODYprada, Ah, ha! Codester! I have started reading but I haven't gotten very far yet due to an overwhelming load of film work, but yes, the thing is cracked! I'll read as swiftly as my crunching schedule will allow. Are you in India? How the heck is it? I send you my love too! ** DavidEhrenstein, I ... think he really exists? ** Sypha, Hi. I can see you liking that about him, yeah. Makes total sense. That's real whirlpool of a back cover description, by which I mean it seems to work like a charm. ** Bill, Hi, B. We like what we like. Ain't no right or wrong about it. So says me. That does look like a fine book. Huh. I'll see what I can do to find and invade it. Thank you, Bill. Nice weekend? ** Grant maierhofer, Hey, Grant. Cool, thank you. 'Altmann's Tongue' is awesome. This blog is long overdue some kind of Evenson post, wow. I'll do that. 'Child of God' is a goodie. Great rambling, which wasn't rambling, man. Very cool that you did the Cutty Spot interview. I'm a CS addict. Pass along the launch date when you know it. Uh, ... I think I read Eliaz Tezapsidis' review. Link me up, if you like, so I can make sure. You came back with the thing. Cool! I'll .... Everyone, Grant Maierhofer, a fine writer if there ever was one, shares a link to a location (the nearly always cool Vol. 1 Brooklyn site) where an excerpt from his hotly anticipated new novel has been revealed for our reading pleasure. Hence, clicking and reading are a highly recommended 1-2 punch of an activity at this very moment, and here's how you can do that. ** Misanthrope, That's because Self is a pretentious smelt pot, and Mccarty isn't. Anyway, I'm so glad you liked it. Happy post-Birthday? Was it fun? Did you blow the fucker out? Was that cake as delish as it sounded? Are you as fat as a pig now? Are you as piggie as a slave now? Tell me. ** Kier, Thanks, Kier! Sitting by the sea watching the mountain get pink as the moon came up sounds like way more than enough to have done. That was a really nice sentence. It was like a sentence-long contemplative novel. Yeah, reading about your weekend made me feel serene and very alert at the same time, which is kind of possibly the best possible feeling one could have, now that I think about it. My weekend was, let's see, full of work and planning, basically. There's too much to be done to do anything much but try to begin to get things done right now. So, yeah, a lot happened, but I can't think of anything that would be at all interesting to hear or even write about it. Oh, except that Zac, Kiddiepunk, Oscar B, and I made form plans to go to Disneyland Paris on Wednesday to ride the new and hugely, lengthily anticipated 'Ratatouille' ride, so that's coolness. So, the weekend was fine, all in all. Did you have anymore serene, alert nature-based adventures today? ** Kyler, Thanks. Hope your weekend was a fully upbeat stretch. ** Steevee, That's weird. About the cease and desist, Oh, and it was their mistake or their bullshit? What is their greedy deal? I don't know Khaled Hosseini's novels. His work doesn't sound very up my alley from your description. I'm not a huge fan of either Rushdie or Marquez. ** Jonathan, Hi. 'The white building on rue de l'Hôtel de Ville': I'll look for a white building the next time I'm down there, which could even be today. Lorrie Moore is cool. I need to read more of her. She's very liked by writers I very like. My weekend did some of the tricks needed. ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. Glad you dug the thing! ** Etc etc etc, Hi. I really, really don't think Franzen is doing anything remotely very interesting under there. McCarthy, though, yes. In my opinion, I mean. Paris has a ton of lost spaces, but, well, maybe not lost in LA sense, more like hidden away, camouflaged, that sort of thing. No, I haven't had a chance to look at the stuff yet for which I greatly apologize. Everything I want to do/read is being way back-burnered by the film work, which is overwhelming at the moment, but I look forward to reading it greatly when my brain gets released. The film is in a difficult, trying to figure out very hard things really fast by necessity phase right now. Oh, no, we're ages away from trailers and anything like that. The film isn't finished filming yet, and it won't be finished being edited until January. Yeah, see you soon, right? Keep me updated. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I think start with 'Blood Meridian'. Some of the later novels are more user-friendly, but you should start with the pure, probably best thing. I hope today had the payoff you so hope. What happened? ** Chilly Jay Chill, Thanks, bud. Skype thing should work. When is good? I have heard some Seaford Mods. It sounded really fresh. I've been meaning to find out if remains fresh sounding in relative bulk. I'll do that. Thanks, J. ** I guess we're done. If you want to find out about poet documentaries and even watch one or more of them, today is your day, thanks to Mr. BrianWallis. Have a good time. See you tomorrow.