Today in Lansing: MSU “Filmetry Festival” screens 12 shorts produced by local filmmakers, poets

Filmetry Festival

7 to 9 p.m.

The RCAH Center for Poetry at MSU

362 Bogue St., East Lansing

Click here for event page

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23 — See the collaborative cinematic poems crafted by regional poets and filmmakers come to fruition in this exclusive, one-night-only event.

MSU’s Center for Poetry at the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, RCAH, will host. According to its mission statement, the organization focuses on inciting the reading, writing and discussion of poetry in the community.

“I have long been interested in the fusion of cinema and contemporary poetry,” RCAH interim president Cindy Hunter Morgan said. “I contacted Peter Johnston of the MSU film studies program; we met for coffee and I said ‘What do you think?’ He was absolutely in.”

Poets submitted five poems each for the festival, with MSU student and faculty filmmakers selecting which one translates best for cinema.

“For poets, it can be very useful to think when we are writing how our poems are working cinematically,” Hunter Morgan said. “There are cinematic choices, like where will the camera angle be pointed — it is helpful to think this way.”

Each film brings a different approach to the table. Some use the text of the poem, others use narration and some even do animation, she said.

The “cinepoems” will run for 40 minutes with a brief pause between each one. Filmmakers and poets will be on hand for attendees to ask question in a social gathering after the show. Popcorn will be served free of charge.

Furthering the cinepoem concept, the RCAH will host a workshop for poets to think cinematically about their work on Jan. 28.

“This is a wonderful way to share poetry with a new audience,” Hunter Morgan said. “That’s exactly what we want to do — expand the audience and help everyone understand where poetry sits in their life.”

For more information, visit http://poetry.rcah.msu.edu/index.html

More events in Lansing:

Loud Space Open Mic

7 to 10 p.m., MSU Broad Art Lab, 565 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing

Bogues & Romancer at Mac’s Bar

7 to 11 p.m., $10, Mac's Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing