22/9/2022

20th anniversary of ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival: country focus Ukraine and comprehensive supporting program with readings

ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival was founded 20 years ago. As the world’s oldest and most established international poetry film festival, ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival 2022 presents both poetry and poetry films from November 3 to 6 in transdisciplinary formats at Haus für Poesie Berlin and Kino in der Kulturbrauerei. In addition to the International Competition for the best poetry films, a comprehensive film and poetry program with a country focus on Ukraine will be presented.

Around 1200 films have been submitted this year from more than 95 countries. From these, the Program Committee has nominated 25 films for the Competition. A jury of experts in the fields of film, poetry and media will choose and then announce the winning films at an awards ceremony on 6 November. The Best Poetry Film for Children will be awarded the ZEBRINO Audience Prize. The ZEBRINO Poetry Film Festival for children, youth and young adults will take place from October 17 to 23.

PRISM are eight accompanying programs featuring around 100 films and providing an insight into the diversity of the poetry film scene with subjects as eco poetry or feminism.

The program focus will provide a comprehensive, dedicated look at Ukrainian poetry films in cooperation with the Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin. Ukrainian, German, and multilingual poets, translators, film authors, and artists are invited, among them  Kateryna Babkina, Oleksandr Irvanets, Oleh Kotsarev, Andriy Lyubka, Ostap Slyvynsky and Iryna Tsilyk. Two film programs and five readings are planned. Also part of the program: a retrospective on Maya Deren, the poetry film pioneer born in Kyiv in 1917, and a masterclass by Ukrainian composer for film music Maryana Klochko.

A panel discussion addresses poetry and poetry film as coping strategies.

Every ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival has a festival poem, this year the poem Anderkatt by Georg Leß was to be turned into a film. The best film adaptations will be screened.

More about ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival