The International Video Poetry Festival, Athens 11th and 12th September
Spearheading the start of the autumn festivals, The International Video Poetry Festival in Athens goes live on the 11th and 12th September. Be ready for a beautifully crafted curation of video poems, video art and spoken word.
The International Video Poetry Festival celebrates thirteen years of creative collaboration with more than 2000 artists from 85 countries, a world of poetic visions for the benefit of humanity. Poetry, cinema, music and spoken word come together to communicate the inspiration, dreams, ideas and hopes of all of us.
Beyond the magic of poetry film, for me the spoken word workshops this year look particularly interesting, so I have attached brief details below.
Human Factor: Empathy vs. AI in Art Abdullah Harun İlhan (director – Turkey)
For storytellers, visual artists, and non-mainstream filmmakers, exploring human connection and emotional depth in visual narratives, drawing on case studies from his own experimental films and journeys through 75 countries. Includes short screenings, a group brainstorming exercise on translating emotion into visual language, and a discussion on human empathy vs. AI in art-making.
Techniques and practices of Spoken Word Performance Woodzy (poet- UK)
The world famous spoken word artist Woodzy shares his performance technices and secrets. Woodzy is an award-winning UK spoken word and “Flo” poet, TEDx speaker, and BRIT School alumnus known for his relatable topics and witty wordplay.
The Body is a Poem: an exploration of words through movement – Angie Flanagan (choreographer- UK)
Beginning with improvisation practices rooted in Butoh, participants discover the body as a tool for expression.
A SELECTION OF THE VIDEO POEMS
More and more of us are experiencing (either physically or psychologically or both) the alarming fallout from climate change on a daily basis. So, it is not surprising that a number of the poetry films in the festival echo our rage and fear at how humans are destroying the planet. Those in power have to come forward with new directives and initiatives to arrest a total breakdown of the world as we know it.
The following films are examples of fervent calls to action.
Symbiosis, Kent Tate, 2025
Symbiosis, Kent Tate, 2025
Canadian video artist Kent Tate is well known for films that draw attention to the balance between interdependence and dichotomy in relation to the natural and manufactured worlds. It is a dynamic that operates in a state of constant flux and tension, where hard, industrial facts provide the real-life, raw material of highly attuned and beautifully executed video poems. He says of the film Symbiosis:
‘Occasionally I’m able to spend time in a place where I can observe how the natural world takes shape outside the anxious time frame of our hurried species. In this world relationships seem to have evolved to perpetuate balance over long periods of time as opposed to short cycles of calm interspersed with brief periods of chaos. Overruns and schedules don’t appear to exist there as they do in our manufactured world.’
Symbiosis is defined as a close, prolonged association between two or more different biological species. This relationship can be symbiotic (mutualistic), where both parties involved benefit from the interaction, or it can be parasitic, where one party benefits while the other is harmed.’
Jobs Offer, Helene Matte, 2023.
Two films that create a vatic, warning voice through enforcing their point in list form are Jobs Offer (2023) by Quebec-based poet, performer and visual artist Hélène Matte and Too Much (A Prayer for Awareness), 2026 by American artist Paul Beaudoin. After seeing a job advertisement by a petroleum company Hélène contests what kind of jobs they might really be offering, in a world where oil is destroying the planet. Set against what appears to be slowly melting ice polluted by oil, we see a list of job title suggestions, also voiced by her in French. Towards the end the list intensifies with two overlapping voices, creating our own sense of mounting fear and a universal call to move to renewable energy sources.
Too Much, (A Prayer for Awareness), Paul Beaudoin, 2026.
Too Much (A Prayer for Awareness), 2026, Paul Beaudoin
In “Too Much: A Prayer for Awareness” American, (Estonian-based) composer and interdisciplinary artist Paul Beaudoin addresses some of the instincts and constructs that enable war to happen. Set against a still of the planet from space, he uses text as single word statements (and voiceover) as a type of litany, and a warning to literally ‘come back to earth’ and take a custodial view of this planet. We have gone too far and need to stop before it is too late.
Frozen, Ana Pantic, 2025.
Frozen, Ana Pantic, 2025
From protecting the planet to female subjectivity – protecting the self from harm.
Ana Pantic is a poet, poetry film maker and performer from Belgrade, Serbia. I have followed her work for some time, and admire the way that she turns a dark or complex emotional experience into an eloquent and meaningful visual and performative narrative. She has succeeded yet again in Frozen (the third in a series) which is about the ‘Freezing Response’ – a survival technique that apparently victims of narcissistic abuse employ to defend themselves. Ana brings the body into her work in a way that bravely speaks volumes about female identity and subjectivity.
‘Frozen is about the Freezing Response, a reaction that victims unconsciously use as a form of survival defense in both psychological and physical abuse. Freezing emotions, reason, senses, and in extreme cases the functioning of the whole body with a kind of paralysis, are the only form of defense when fight and flight are impossible for the victim (fight-flight-freeze pattern).’
I am also really pleased to say that my family history poetry film Nocturne for a Lighterman is also being shown. Thank you so much to Sissy and the team at The Institute for Experimental Arts and the Film Poetry Digital Platform.
