ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival

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Press release 28.09.2016

ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin - The Program

For the first time, the Zebra Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin will be held in Münster from 27-30 October at cinema Schloßtheater. Established in Berlin in 2002, the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival was the first and remains the largest international platform for cinematic adaptations of poetry: poetry films

With three poetry-film competitions – one international, one German, and one North Rhine-Westphalia based – as well as themed film programmes, a retrospective on TV poetry hosted by Klaus-Peter Dencker, readings, a Colloquium, a lineup for younger audiences called ZEBRINO and a lineup focused on works from the Flanders and the Netherlands, ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival 2016 promises to showcase the richness and diversity in the emerging film genre of poetry films.

This year, more than 1,100 submissions from 86 countries were submitted to the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin, among which 80 have been nominated by the program commission to compete in the international and national competitions. Four prizes totaling €12,000 will be awarded by the three-member international jury, including the "ZEBRA Award for the best poetry film", the "Goethe Film Award", the "Ritter Sport Film Award", as well as the "Award for the Best film for Tolerance". Additionally, 18 films will be presented in the newly established NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia) competition.

The Flanders and Netherlands Focus

As part of the official programme of the Frankfurt Book Fair, ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin will bring into focus Dutch language and literature this year, and present work of artists from Netherlands and Flanders. With selected poetry films from this year's submissions, award-winning classics and the results of the Master Class "Poetry across the borders", ZEBRA will showcase the diversity in language arts in the area between the dunes and the polders through poetry readings and Film Talks.

In this year's festival, we have permission from Dutch poet Mustafa Stitou, author of the poem oracle van een gevonden schoen, to use said poem as a theme for short films. The six best among the filmmakers who decided to center their film on oracle van een gevonden schoen have been invited to Münster to present and engage in discussions of their work.

The Festival Committee has also organised a Retrospective on the work of Klaus Peter Dencker, visual poet and literary scholar, who is widely considered to be the inventor of the TV poetry. Klaus Peter Dencker created the Sequencing form, which in turn has influenced his work of visual poetry. Throughout his years in the television industry, he played an important role in creating more than 100 documentary and experimental films for ARD and ZDF, including influential experimental films like starfighter, rausch and Austronaut, which were broadcast over the now defunct SWF of Baden-Baden during 1970-1971. Professor Dencker will be present at the festival to talk about his work.

ZEBRINO Program for Young Audiences

The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster/Berlin will make poetic forays with younger audiences. What is a poetry film? Where does the idea of making a cinematic poem come from? What is a poem? ZEBRINO is a lineup of colorful short films based on poems which target audiences of 10-14 years old and aims to bring children closer to the genre of poetry film. In this program, the young visitors will not only meet a rabbit-turtle, a black bear, people with funny mice, but also travel with two brothers back into their past. In the end, the young participants will get to choose their favorite film by voting. The film with the most votes wins the ZEBRINO competition 2016 prize worth 500 euros.

The Zebra Poetry Festival is organized by the Filmwerkstatt Münster in cooperation with the Haus für Poesie (formerly Literaturwerkstatt, Berlin). It is made possible by the support of Kunststiftung NRW, the LWL Kulturstiftung, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the city of Münster, the Stiftung der Sparkasse Münsterland Ost, the Kulturrucksack NRW, the Netherlands Consulate General and the Flemish Embassy. The competition prizes have been donated in 2016 by the Haus für Poesie, the Goethe Institute, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG and Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The festival is also supported by the Münstesche Filmtheater-Betriebe, GUCC grafik & film, as well as the Factory Hotel.

Press release 28.01.2016

ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival: The biggest international festival for poetry films is moving from Berlin to Münster

Submission for filmmakers starts 1st of February 2016

The international ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival has a new home in Münster. From the 27th to the 30th of October 2016, for the very first time the Filmwerkstatt Münster, in cooperation with Literaturwerkstatt Berlin/Haus für Poesie, will host the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin. The festival will be located at Schloßtheater, a repertory cinema in Münster.

The idea for a festival for short films combining poetry with moving pictures was created in 2002 by the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin/Haus für Poesie. They organized the festival in Berlin until 2014 and have established it as the biggest platform for the genre poetry film. A poetry film is based on a poem. The poem is the center piece of the short film and can be clearly recognized in word or sound. The possibilities are unlimited: With quiet or loud, funny or moving, poetic or political films, the programme of the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival represents a wide range of the genre.

At the initiative of Kunststiftung NRW the relocation is anticipated to carry the genre beyond the borders of the capital and anchor it in North Rhine-Westphalia. The new location has already established itself as an important venue for poetry and cinematic art, as it is home to the poetry festival Lyrikertreffen, the International Poetry Prize (Preis der Stadt Münster für internationale Poesie) and the the Filmfestival Münster.

In Münster ZEBRA is going to take place every other year - alternating with the Filmfestival Münster and the Lyrikertreffen. Managing directors of the festival will be Risna Olthuis and Carsten Happe, who have also been responsible for the Filmfestival Münster since 2014. Thomas Zandegiacomo Del Bel of the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin/Haus für Poesie was confirmed in his position as artistic director. The team of directors will be supported through a professional artistic advisory board, consisting of the representatives of Filmwerkstatt Münster, Literaturwerkstatt Berlin/Haus für Poesie, Kunststiftung NRW, Literaturverein Münster and a film expert from North Rhine-Westphalia.

Submissions begin

From the 1st of February 2016 artists from all over the world can submit their contributions. A total of five prizes, among them two audience awards, are endowed together with 12,000 Euro. Eligible for submission are poetry films with a maximum length of 15 minutes that were finished after 1st of January 2013. Deadline for entries is the 1st of July 2016. The international competition is the heart of the programme, which will be comprised of approximately 200 films in total. A programme commission consisting of film and poetry experts is going to nominate the films for the festival and the competition. An international jury will choose the winning films, which will also be shown by the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin/Haus für Poesie in Berlin.

All information about the festival and submissions at www.zebrapoetryfilm.org

The focus of this year's ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin is the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). Therefore, the festival is part of the official accompanying programme of the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair, which focuses on the Dutch language. North Rhine-Westphalia, as the new festival location, is also going to play an important role. With special offers for schools, the kids programme ZEBRINO, a series of films about diverse topics, discussions and poetry readings, the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin invites a wide audience to discover the poetry film for themselves. Since in 2014 around 800 films from 70 countries were submitted, the organizers expect a good response this year also.

The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin has been made possible with the support of Kunststiftung NRW and LWL Kulturstiftung, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Münster, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Representation of the Government of Flanders. The awards are donated by Literaturwerkstatt Berlin/Haus für Poesie, the Goethe-Institut and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.