ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival

From 27 to 30 September 2018 the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin will take place in Münster. The venue and festival centre is the Schloßtheater arthouse cinema. The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival was launched in 2002 in Berlin by the Haus für Poesie. It was the first and is the world's largest international platform for short films based on poetry - poetry films. In 2016 it took place for the first time at the Schloßtheater in Münster.

With an international, a German language and a NRW competition for the best poetry films, thematic film programmes, spoken word events, readings, discussions and lectures, the children's programme ZEBRINO and the youth programme NEW FILM GENERATION, as well as the focus on the USA, it shows the diversity of the genre poetry film. "In the series of international film festivals it is one of the smaller festivals, but it is the world's largest for poetry film and it networks and strengthens the scene," as Winfried Bettmer from Filmwerkstatt Münster, organiser of the festival, emphasises. And the scene is coming to Münster! Numerous filmmakers as well as poets have already announced their attendance. In the cosy ambience of the Schloßtheater, the audience will have the opportunity to get in touch with the filmmakers. "The filmmakers are looking forward to the discussions," says festival director Carsten Happe. "We don't want to make the genre of poetry films appear to be brain-bound - and get out of the ivory tower!" The whole programme is interactive: readings and film screenings are interwoven, alternating. The programme does not present one film after the other, it promotes exchange and discussion.

Two juries select the winning films

The Programme Commission nominated around 150 poetry films for the competitions, focal points and programmes. Two juries made up of poets, film and media will select the winning films during the festival. For the international and German language competition, the Israeli-American filmmaker Jasmine Kainy, the Dutch poet Erik Lindner and the editor and curator Guido Naschert will decide on the winners. In the NRW competition, the jury is composed of the author Sabrina Janesch, the filmmaker Rainer Komers and Merle Radtke, the new director of the Kunsthalle Münster. Six prizes - endowed with a total of 13,000 euros - will be awarded. This year's festival also invited to film the poem "Endless wall-to-wall carpet (of the VIP foyer)" by Ann Cotten. The directors of the best film adaptations are invited to Münster to present and discuss their films. The poet will read from her work.