OZArts has become well known for presenting experimental artistic productions, providing a major Nashville venue for the kind of art that is most often associated with art centers like New York or Los Angeles. This weekend, OZ Arts is hosting just such an event—presenting special screenings of "12 Poetry Into Film Collaborations"—a program of short, collaborative film projects produced through a partnership between Defy Film Festival and Kindling Arts Festival.
Kindling Arts Festival and Defy Film Festival are local independent arts incubators, and "12 Poetry Into Film Collaborations" presents the labors of love of 12 local poets with 13 local filmmakers who were given a unique task: create visually stunning film adaptations of the poets’ concepts. Each of the new cinematic works based on an individual poem, and the poetry was mostly written in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The dozen new short films will be screened for the first time at OZ Arts on Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8, 2021.
"12 Poetry Into Film Collaborations" is an hour-long program of films by diverse Nashville-based poets and filmmakers exploring themes that have simmered throughout what we might call the “long 2020”—which still lingers with us. This year sparked a new appreciation for nature as people found little escape in the normal, day-to-day life of lockdown. Events across the nation fueled a renewed raising of voices in the name of racial justice. And on a personal level, the year led to a fundamental reorientation of the relationship between the individual self and the broader community, against the backdrop of universal feelings of love, loss, grief, and hope.
"12 Poetry Into Film Collaborations" features the following “Poet x Filmmaker” combinations:
Elise Anderson x Katie McCall
C. Sinclaire Brown x Drew Maynard
Dan Hoy x Sophia Gordon
Robyn Leigh Lear x Nichole Lim & Natalie Ruffino Wilson
Cameron Mitchell x Montez Mickles
Joshua Moore x Samantha Szwaglis
Lagnajita Mukhopadhyay x John Warren
Ciona Rouse x Luke Harvey
John Shakespear x Caleb Dirks
Frank “Frizzy” Sykes x Chris Durai
Meg Wade x Haven Nutt
Alora Young x Angell Foster
Each showing will be followed by a post-show conversation moderated by Defy Film Festival Co-Founder Dycee Wildman—the program’s website includes a listing of which creators will participate in which discussion time.
Screenings of "12 Poetry Into Film Collaborations" will be held at OZ onFriday, May 7 at 8pm and Saturday, May 8 at 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm. The 2pm show will include ASL interpretation.