During the Festival you can watch 3 new film poems*, with artists Leontia Flynn, Emma Must and Abby Olivera. The works were shot in Northern Ireland in Spring 2023, by film-maker Matthew Thompson, and in partnership with The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation. 

*Film poems: Combine language, performance, music, and moving image, a film poem builds an immersive experience that invites viewers to reconnect with poetry. 

The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation is a New York–based literary organisation bringing great poetry from across places, eras, and traditions together. Founded by Peter and Cathy Halstead, the Foundation’s aim is to expand access to poetry for audiences worldwide by curating outstanding poems and creating films that bring poetry to vibrant life.

Over the past three years, the Foundation’s filmmakers have created multiple series totaling over 130 films, in partnership with organizations including Poetry Ireland (Dublin), Druid (Galway), IMMA (Dublin), the 92nd Street Y (New York), Irish Arts Center (New York), Tippet Rise (Montana), and Poet in the City (London).

In these films, acclaimed actors and established and emerging poets perform poems representing a wide range of forms and styles. By combining language, performance, music, and moving image, the films build an immersive experience that invites viewers to reconnect with an ancient art form in a wholly contemporary way.

Find out more and explore films poems at BrinkerhoffPoetry.org