Cin(E)-Poetry: The Uneasy Writer

Today I was brought the news that a class on Cin(E)-poetry I was going to teach at Asilomar's Writers Conference had been cancelled due to low enrollment. Disappointing since the majority of attendees at this conference tend to be English Teachers from California. I planned on showing them the best the artform has to offer as well as simple, easy techniques to create a cinepoem using a computer and simple editing software. Their excuse?Funding cuts forced them to cut several items from this year's conference. I had been invited to this conference by a person who saw my presentation at the Teacher's of English Conference in Baltimore a few years ago. Here are some pics from that visit.

Days like today force me to think about the successes and challenges of bringing the beautiful art form of Cin(E)-Poetry to schools and the publc. Last month, I was invited to go to Los Angeles and make a presenation and conduct a workshop.

This event was very much like past visits; an inspired person sees a cinepoem (not necessarily mine) and suddenly wants to bring it to his/her community. In this case, it was a pastor who goes by the name 'Sistah C'. A lovely woman who works at the VA hospital as well as conduct her ministry. The presentation and workshop went well and everyone seemed honestly inspired and they talked about creating their own Cin(E)-Poetry Festival in LA for Nov. 2004.

Before I go on, maybe I should give you a brief history of how and why I got involved in being THE advocate for a relatively unknown artform that mixes cinema with sound, music and, most importantly-poetry.

Since graduating from UC San Diego in 1989, with a roll of paper stating my media-making qualifications, I hoped I could find something that my passions and time could take hold. Working as a gopher on commercials or films wasn't for me and I didn't have the means to make an independent film. By chance, I walked into the National Poetry Association office then located at Fort Mason in San Francisco and met Herman Berlandt the founder. This old man looked frail but lightening shot of his eyes when he spoke of poetry and what his organization is doing. His plan sounded so grand and important, 'Uniting the World through Poetry'.

How could he do this out of a small, windowless office with books and dust thrown together on the floor and tables? He pointed to a mound of 16MM film cannisters next to exposed hot light bulbs and foul-smelling chemicals. I put one of the films on the projector and out came something I hadn't seen in school or in any film venue. It was so beautifully simple, elegant and thoughtfully constructed and only 3 minutes long. I watched another and then another and before long I realize I had stumbled onto something very rare and compelling. By that time, Herman had held 15 Poetry Film Festivals,
mostly in small rooms with a dozen people or so watching. I thought, we should bring this to the world not only for its entertainment value, but for its educational and enlightening qualities as well.

For the next 10 years, I produced several of the festivals myself in larger venues and produced a short cable series as well as provided compilation tapes to teachers around the country. Film and video entries grew as well as their quality and expression of unique ideas inherent in a good poem. I, who never read much poetry until I came to the NPA, has now heard, read and seen more poetry than 99% of the people living. (The jury is still out on whether this is a good thing or a bad thiing)

The Internet brought even more opportunity to introduce people to the genre and the period between 1996-2000 was the most productive as more people where able to see these works via cable shows in SF and Philly, through new Videopoery festivals in Vancouver, Chicago and Boston and through the NPA website which was one of the first sites to stream video on the web. Still, the outlets were small, non-profitish types of things and I always feel like this should be on mainstream. But you won't see any cinepoetry on local tv, cable or otherwise for reasons that still escape me. I've come to realize that the artform may take time before it hits the big time, like the way it took Impressionism 80 years to get accepted in the art world.

So I hit the road in 2001 bringing a laptop full of films to rural schools in the Midwest and stopping in various places around the country to finally create my own cinepoems. A dreamy time filled with many revelations and good people along the way. I actually kept an online journal (with pics) during that time covering trips to Peru, New Orleans Spain etc. You can see that HERE.

So what is the state of Cin(E)-Poetry, you ask? The romantic in me wants to say that it is growing in the minds of those thousands of people I've been able to reach over those long, lean years. That people continue to create unique, brilliant works around the world and send them to festivals or simply post them on their website which I only do now. If you'd care to see mine visit http://www.George.Aguilar.com. You'll need Windows Media Viewer.

The Future? Well, I really think VOD (Video-on-Demand) is the place where this should go. I run and maintain the world's largest and richest archive of videopoems, filmpoems and cinepoems(Over 600 titles!) Nearly all have been converted to digital format so that future generations can view and enjoy them. VOD companies must be hunting for new content. Also, I'm working on an initiative to create an online version of the archive that is available to schools to use in the teaching of poetry and film art.

I know that nothing great happens because of just one person which is why I continue to network with like-minded souls around the globe to find a way to make some of that old man's dreams (and mine) come true. Let me know your ideas and thoughts. I'm always open to new things!

Here is an inspiring poem to think about by Andrea Paul currently published on Mosaic Minds

Stay well.