National Poetry Month Films

During the early days of COVID, Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes set himself the challenge of committing Four Quartets to memory, and in 2021 he brought it to the London stage followed by a tour of theaters across the UK. Written by Nobel Prize winner Eliot in the shadow of the Second World War, the poem is a searching examination of who and what we are. This celebrated meditation on human experience, time, and the divine offers up questions, imagery, and emotions that bear a powerful relevance to our present day.

Set in the mid-1920s, celebrated poet and writer Robert Graves returns from war traumatized and creatively struggling. It takes young poet Laura Riding to re-ignite Robert's passion, and with the blessing of his wife, Nancy, his muse becomes his lover. With the three of them sharing a life, soon, Laura's attention turns to Nancy, and a complicated relationship that scandalized society threatens to risk everything they have.

The upstart Bowery Slam Poetry Team, made up of five young African-American, Afro-Hispanic and queer poets, prepares for the national championships. Mentored by a demanding coach who pushes them past their personal boundaries to write from a painfully honest place, the poets break down, break through, and compose their best work ever. Will their soul-searching pieces about police violence and the whitewashing of Black culture be able to compete against choreographed crowd-pleasers for the title?

It's the story of a teacher who becomes at first enchanted, and then ultimately consumed, by the poetic genius of her five-year-old student. Nira discovers that her young student Yoav has an otherworldly talent for language and poetry, and becomes interested in cultivating the boy's gift, but when fascination morphs into obsession, Nira pushes the boundaries of her relationship with the boy and his family in an attempt to protect the purity of his talent.

Features talented contemporary urban poets, plus well-known musicians and comedians, and highlights their original material and powerful performances in an unedited, uncensored, and, definitely, unparalleled setting.