LOCATION: HOUSTON

Aurora Picture Show and Public Poetry co-presented this unique generative project, encouraging collaboration, celebrating the intersection of words and moving image, and exploring identity and sense of place in our city. For two years, locally-based poets and filmmakers have been selected and paired to produce original, collaborative cinepoems relating to people, places, and experiences specific to Houston, Texas. Funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance and by the Texas Commission on the Arts, each selected artist has been paid and the films have been created within three months. The resulting collaborations have premiered in special screenings at Aurora Picture Show, with the participating artists in attendance. We are happy to make these short films available here for online viewing.

Location: Houston – Poetry+Film Collaborations 2022 (Premiere screening: Feb. 25, 2022)

Narrow Slender, Brenda Cruz-Wolf + Đức Quang Võ, 3:00

Houston I Hold, Marcelese Cooper + Kinza Muzahir, 2:33

Land Erasure, Fred Schmidt-Arenales + Gabriella Iacono, 5:49

Cancer: Born 21 July 2019, Midnight, Houston (excerpt), Krista Steinke + Nick Rattner, 3:05

Here, We Move, Yvan Olivia + Zarlasht Niaz, 5:27

Location: Houston – Poetry+Film Collaborations 2023 (Premiere screening: Feb. 24, 2023)

Hidden Life. Chap Edmonson + Elina Petrova, 4:19

Matter Rearranged, Eman Al-Zubeidi + Sophia Emille, 5:05

Unlinked Birds, Bryce Saucier + Anis Shivani, 3:44

Mourning Unfurled, Sarah Sudhoff + Margo Toombs, 3:34

Honeyed Heat, Jennifer Battaglia + Maha Ahmed, 5:19