Summertime

Over the course of a hot summer day in Los Angeles, the lives of 25 young Angelinos intersect. A skating guitarist, a tagger, two wannabe rappers, an exasperated fast-food worker, a limo driver—they all weave in and out of each other's stories. Through poetry they express life, love, heartache, family, home, and fear. One of them just wants to find someplace that still serves good cheeseburgers.

Blackwood

A look at the challenges of living in a small Australian town, portrayed through the lens of a novelist and her teenage son.

Atali'i O Le Crezent (Sons of the Crezent)

Rhyme & Reason: BBC Introducing Arts

Lemn Sissay presents a selection of short films from a new generation of artists who are inspired by poetry and the spoken word. Dying to Live; Notes on Being a Lady; Other Voices; Raised by Queenz; Terra Firma; The Siren's Song; Alice_Alice; My Grandad; The Fall; When Will It Stop?; Backwards; Covering Scars with Summer Jumpers; Is Anybody Out There?

Why We Need Pride

Short film set to a poem about why Pride is important to say thanks for human right's campaigners and to show solidarity. Dedicated to those who lost their lives in Orlando as that terrible attack happened during production.

Soundz of Spirit

Award winning documentary by Joslyn Rose Lyons exploring the relationship between spiritual connection and the creative process in hip-hop music.

Christmas in Ireland with Imelda May and Friends

Music and literary performances from well-known and up-and-coming artists filmed at Pepper Canister Church in the heart of Georgian Dublin.

Billie, Jasmine and the Poet

An interpretive visual to accompany the spoken word poem by Nikki Lorenzo, shot in one day on a hiking trail in Malibu, California.

Young & Naive

Young & Na!ve is a poetic apology to everyone ever sexually molested and a film that needs to be seen by everyone ever born.

Being Kae Tempest

Poet, rapper, playwright and recording artist Kae Tempest is one of the most viscerally exciting artists working in Britain today. They are the youngest ever recipient of the prestigious Ted Hughes prize and have been nominated for both the Brit and Mercury music awards. Tempest has always found support and respect within the queer art scenes, a place close to their heart. In July 2020, they came out as non-binary, announcing that they would publish and perform under the name Kae. This film delves deep into their creative process and gains rare, intimate insights into Kae’s life throughout a period of profound personal and artistic change.

Rhymecology: Write Better Rhymes

The world of hip-hop lyrics has changed, simple rhyme schemes just don't cut it. Rhymes are put under a microscope, and there is no lyrical leeway for emerging artists. This gripping documentary tells the story of Jeff Walker.

The Gun Is Loaded

At the end of the Reagan years, rocker and confrontational performance artist Lydia Lunch launches a broadside. From a formal podium, she attacks the white male power structure of the US. Next she takes on her parents. Then, the volume lowered and the background the streets of New York, she lets us know what she thinks of life, of herself, and of us, anyone who's watching or listening. Life is depression, despair, and death. She's the girl next door gone bad. And us? Compliant sheep. Lunch lays out a challenge.

NOISE!

Oriana Mejer's niche poem-film style has created "NOISE!". The film dissects late stage capitalism and the effects social media has on the mind. This is a spoken word poem, performed by Mejer, combined with projections. It is a completely new approach to editing. Originally score by Sofia Camarena.

Overload

A spoken word piece about an autistic person experiencing sensory overload in a world that rejects their existence.

Hop Along Hang On

Rose the rabbit seeks her way home in this poetic story of reclamation, recovery, and reconciliation.

Somebody's Child

When our loved ones lose their strength and can no longer support us, it’s our turn to support them, and each other. Inspired by Tim's personal experiences with their mother's cancer diagnosis and treatment. A solo dance x spoken word film exploring family illness.

Shut Up and Say Something

Canadian icon Shane Koyczan has brought his spoken word poetry to stages all over the world, including TED Talks that have gone viral and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This documentary, both an introduction to his poetry and an exploration of his relationships with those around him, highlights his journey of seeking reconciliation with his father who abandoned him at an early age, and how in order to accomplish this, Koyczan has to rely on his poetry's vulnerability like never before.

Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama born March 22, 1929 is a Japanese artist and writer. Throughout her career she has worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, collage, scat sculpture, performance art, and environmental installations, most of which exhibit her thematic interest in psychedelic colors, repetition and pattern. A precursor of the pop art, minimalist and feminist art movements, Kusama influenced contemporaries such as Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and Yoko Ono.

Road Rant: A Week On the Road With Lydia Lunch

The X-rated cartoon animations of Emmy award winning director/animator Merrill Aldighieri add a comical edge to this intense documentary with Lydia Lunch, a second collaboration after their first success, ""The Gun is Loaded."" Highlights from 5 concerts are accompanied by a live music score performed by composer JOE BUDENHOLZER & horn player TERRY EDWARDS (from MADNESS) during their travels to MARSEILLE, LYON, EVREUX, & NANTES. Bonus clips include rare on-the road interview footage with Lydia and composer Joe B., and an exclusive reading done at the Père Lachaise Cemetary.

The Wings

A kinetic typography animation set to a reading of the poem "The Wings" by Sebastian Fox.