Silencio gris (Grey Silence)

Here you can watch a selection of poetry films I have directed. The most recent films are currently submitted to festivals so I've only put the trailers. In many of these I have worked on all aspects of the film from writing the poem to preparing the filming script, camera to editing and in some cases composing or recording the music as well.

Many of the films are in Spanish and subtitles are available by clicking on CC. In some cases, especially where I use text-on-screen, I have made versions in each language.

Silencio gris (Grey Silence)

(2023) Silencio gris (Grey Silence), Olsen, Charles and Pallares, Lilián (directors), Orellana, Gissel (poet). 4:06 min, Honduras & Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Berlin: ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in the competition ZEBRINO for poetry films for children and young people. San Pedro Sula: Museum of Anthropology and History

[No trailer available]

A-Dentro (In-Side)

(2023) A-Dentro (In-Side), Olsen, Charles and Pallares, Lilián (directors), Jiménez, Dayana (poet). 2:32 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Seattle: Cadence Video Poetry Festival 2023, Albacete: VIII Maldito Festival de Videopoesía, Granada: 9º Festival Cinemística – Espejos de Amor

A collaborative poetry film made with the support of the Fundación ONCE, Spain, in the context of the VIII Biennial of Contemporary Art, 'Woman and disability'.

[No trailer available]

Mom Asks Me to Write Her a Poem About the Sky

(2022) Mom Asks Me to Write Her a Poem About the Sky, Olsen, Charles (director), Jones, Christine (poet). 3:00 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Michigan: Filmetry Festival 2022, Barcelona: Nudo Festival 2023

“Charles Olsen’s film lyrically imagined the Christine Jones poem and extended its meaning into something new and wonderful. His sound design in particular gave greater depth and dimension to her poem and allowed us to imagine the narrator’s place in space.”
—comments from the Filmetry Festival, Michigan, on winning the 3rd place award, October 2022.

The Exhibition

(2021) La exposición (The Exhibition), Olsen, Charles (poet), Clay, Nic (original music), with collaborations from Eduardo Yagüe and Sarah Tremlett, among others. 8:24 min, Spain: antenablue.

The Exhibition: 'An irreverent take on the art world. A poetic hybrid combining essay, documentary, journalism, and video art.'
Selected for Berlin: FilmArte 2022, Mexico City: Fotogenia, Granada: VIII Festival Cinemística El Refugio, Madrid: FilmArte 2023 (Special Mention)

A collaborative poetry film including specially created pieces by Eduardo Yagüe and Sarah Tremlett, alongside interviews with artist and philosopher Ignacio Gómez de Liaño, professor of art aesthetics and theory Ilia Galán, videos from Instagram artists Jan Erichsen and Ángel Rivas, artwork by the Olive brothers, movement in a museum by Mia Gill, and the Argentinian actor Ignacio Kowalski. The idea of play and a child's approach to art runs through this piece. Featuring original music by New Zealand musician Nic Clay.

The Calm Sea

(2021) The Calm Sea, Gill, Mia (poet), Olsen, Charles (director and original music). 2:37 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Tenerife and Barcelona: Nudo Festival 2022

[No trailer available]

Noho Mai

(2020) Noho Mai (‘Sit Here’), Tunui, Peta-Maria (poet), Tunui, Peta-Maria; Aniwaniwa McGee, Waitahi; Bailey-Edmonds, Shania; Harris, Jesse-Ana; Pallares, Lilián; and Olsen, Charles (Directors), 5:33 min, New Zealand/Spain: antenablue.
Selected for New Zealand: Wairoa Māori Film Festival, Berlin: ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival (Competition), Cork: 8th Ó Bhéal International Poetry Film Competition, Honolulu Museum of Art: Aotearoa New Zealand Film Showcase 2020, Ōtaki: Māoriland Film Festival, Seattle: Cadence Video Poetry Festival, Athens: 9th International Video Poetry Festival, Barcelona: Festival Nudo, Wisconsin: Midwest Video Poetry Festival, Madrid: ZEBRA Screening in Capítulo Uno Matadero Madrid 2021, Granada: Cinemística 'Los Alredadores del Silencio', Titirangi, New Zealand: Lyrical Visions VI
Awards: 'Best Poetry Film' 8th Ó Bhéal International Poetry Film Competition

Featured in Love in the Time of Covid (Ed. Witi Ihimaera, Michelle Elvy) where you can read the story of its creation.

Ice on the Water

(2020) Ice on the Water, O'Dempsey, Mykl (original music), 2:22 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Titirangi, New Zealand: Lyrical Visions V
Featured in Atticus Review.

You can read about the process of its creation here: Ice on the Water

Frozen Cry

(2020) [TRAILER] Llanto Congelado (‘Frozen Cry’), Pallares, Lilián (poet), Olsen, Charles (director), Pallares, Lilián (actor), Gill, Mia (actor), 5:08 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Palmerston North: 'Poesía sin fronteras/Poetry without Borders' in Papaioea Festival of the Arts, Athens: 9th International Video Poetry Festival, Seattle: Cadence Video Poetry Festival, Lisbon: JÁ Festival (Top Ten Finalists)

'Frozen Cry is a tear of freezing water that overflows'

Featuring Colombian poet Lilián Pallares, her niece Mia Gill and Minnie the cat. Music: Clara Schumann, Praeludium I, Tres Preludios y Fugas (Op.16) played by Charles Olsen.

The film is dedicated to the poet’s mother Rocio Campo, who passed away the week after filming. The poem itself was inspired by a conversation Lilián had with her niece Mia.

Our thoughts were very much with Lilián’s mother in hospital in Colombia when we were filming in Almenara, Spain. The Covid-19 restrictions made travel to Colombia out of the question. The filming was very spontaneous, taking advantage of the one windy day during our stay. Mia just happened to call us that day on Messenger and we filmed her talking with Lilián. The music for the video is a prelude by Clara Schumann which I had begun studying this year and seemed to evoke the rolling of the waves and a certain melancholy of the poem.

These serendipitous moments combined with the sentiment in the poem and the shadow of the illness and death of a loved one made this a particularly emotive project to work on.

Urban Landscape/Paisaje Urbano

(2020) [TRAILER] Urban Landscape/Paisaje Urbano, Olsen, Charles (poet), 5:12 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Barcelona: Festival Nudo

‘I live the days in dreams that never end.’ Poet Charles Olsen studies flamenco guitar and savours the processions and street parties of his neighbourhood in Madrid, and tells of lost love.

Filmed during the fiestas of Lavapiés, Madrid, in the summer of 2005, New Zealand artist and poet Charles Olsen studies flamenco guitar and savours the atmosphere, the processions and popular street parties of this multicultural neighbourhood. Against this background he tells a story of lost love in both Spanish and English. The deliberate lack of subtitles allows the audience to enjoy the images and the sounds of the language they don’t speak.

The poem is set to music in collaboration with the Webster Collective, a process that took over ten years, and was completed in March 2020. In this time we live in, the closing line takes on new significance: ‘The landscape I paint is from a past/that no longer exists the same.’ You can read more about its creation here: Los Tejados – The Story of a Painting.

Catharsis

(2019) Catarsis (‘Catharsis’), Pallares, Lilián (poet), Semedo, Artemisa (actor), Cámara, Marisa (actor/dancer), Mitú (music), 1:20 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Houston, TX: Poesía sin fronteras/Poetry without borders curated by Dave Bonta for REELpoetry, Palmerston North: 'Poesía sin fronteras/Poetry without Borders' in Papaioea Festival of the Arts
Featured in Moving Poems.

This was made originally as a book trailer, to capture the essence of Lilián’s latest collection ‘Bestial’ published in Zaragoza, Spain, by Papeles de Trasmoz, Olifante Editions, 2019. Her collection explores her Afro-Colombian roots and the death of her father. While writing the poems she was taking African dance classes in Madrid and we wanted to capture something of the African influence in this poetry film.

We live in a neighborhood of Madrid with a large migrant population, with people from Senegal, Guinea-Conakry, Morocco, Bangladesh, China, etc., and us (Colombia and New Zealand), and we decided to film this at night in streets with the dancer Marisa Cámara (Guinea-Conakry) and the poet and performer Artemisa Semedo (Galicia/Cape Verde). The music is ‘Zuru’ by the Colombian duo Mitú.

Vertigo

(2019) Vertigo, Olsen, Charles (poet), 1:18 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Cork: 7th Ó Bhéal International Poetry-Film Competition, Spain: V Maldito Festival de Videopoesía, Spain: Nudo Festival 2023

'Searching for balance in our hectic lives.'

You can see photos and the story of its creation here.

Lucas

(2017) Lucas, Olsen, Charles (poet), 4:10 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Cork: 5th Ó Bhéal International Poetry-Film Competition, Italy: Salerno Letteratura Festival, Portugal: Festival Literario de Madeira, Ireland: Clare Island Film Festival, Penzance: Newlyn Film Festival, Barranquilla: PoeMaRío XIV International Poetry Festival in the Caribbean

Lucas goes out on his daily adventures, but what makes him tick? A New Zealand poet, a Colombian writer and a Spanish comedian teamed up to find out…

"This poetry film is based around the text of my poem 'Lucas' from my collection 'Antípodas' (Huerga & Fierro, 2016). It was filmed one morning with the Spanish comedian Gon Solo in our colourful local neighbourhood in Madrid. Many details such as the day's headline in the newspaper 'El miedo al fracaso' (The fear of failure) are happy coincidences."

Morning's Fishing

(2017) Mañana de Pesca (Morning’s Fishing), Olsen, Charles (poet), 5:14 min, Spain: antenablue. Selected for Rio de Janiero: Cinema do Mar.
Featured in Atticus Review.

'Mystery surrounds a morning’s fishing.'

'Morning's Fishing' is inspired by my poem below of the same name, published in 'Antípodas' (Huerga y Fierro, 2016), and was filmed over two days in Punta Umbría, a coastal town in the province of Huelva, Spain. The music is courtesy Eel, a jazz trio from New Zealand, led by my uncle, Noel Clayton, on electric guitar.

Whispering Wind

(2019) Viento Soplao (‘Whispering Wind’), Pallares, Lilián (poet), Madrid, Manuel and Paz, Nestor (music), 3:55 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Madrid: V Festival Internacional Febrero Poético

Filmed one breezy day in Alconaba, Soria. After lunch it started pouring with rain but it quickly blew over and we were able to finish our filming!

Water Bodies

(2017) Cuerpos de Agua (‘Water Bodies’), Pallares, Lilián (poet), Madrid, Manuel and Paz, Nestor (music), 3:10 min, Spain: antenablue.

Featured in Moving Poems.

Like Whispering Wind, this piece is half videopoem and half music video. We began with the musical interpretation of Lilián's poems by Manuel Madrid and Nestor Paz, and built the video around it. Like Frozen Cry, Water Bodies was filmed in Almenara, where the sea and nearby wetlands provided a watery landscape.

The Afternoon

(2015) La Tarde (The Afternoon), Olsen, Charles (poet), 1:09 min, Spain: antenablue.

Selected for Poetry+Video touring programme curated by Marie Craven (Australia: Murwillumbah, Temporary global digital arts biennale: TheWrong, Cork: Ó Bhéal Winter Warmer, Split: Kino Klub, Athens: 8th international poetry video festival, Foggia: In Absentia Digital Pavilion, Versopolis: Festival of Hope, Sweden: at the fringe), Lisbon: Festival Silêncio, Barcelona: Festival Sinestësia.
Featured in Poetry Film Live.

'Office angst one everyday afternoon.'

And the Alarm Rang

(2014) Y Sonó la Alarma (And the Alarm Rang), Pallares, Lilián (poet), Rubén Maldonado, Pablo (music), 3:00 min, Spain: antenablue.

Selected for Houston, TX: Poesía sin fronteras/Poetry without borders curated by Dave Bonta for REELpoetry, Massachusetts: Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival (finalist and nominated for Best Music), Grimsby: Lightworks Film Festival, Palmerston North: 'Poesía sin fronteras/Poetry without Borders' in Papaioea Festival of the Arts, Mexico City: Festival Fotogenia (presentation by Sarah Tremlett)
Featured in Moving Poems.

A Little Death

(2014) Pequeña Muerte (‘A Little Death’), Pallares, Lilián (poet), Nooten, Pieter (music), 6:15 min, Spain: antenablue.

This is one of the pieces we created which formed part of 'Parpadeos', a performance bringing together various artists from different disciplines, fusing authentic flamenco with contemporary dance as well as electronic, neo-classical and ambient music, poetry and cutting edge video art. With traditional flamenco dance at its core, the Parpadeo Project presents an innovative crossover between these multiple disciplines in the performing arts. You can see the trailer of the show and photos from the performance in P60, Amstelveen, here.

Book of Traces

(2014) Libro de Huellas (‘Book of Traces’), Guinda, Ángel (poet), 3:16 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Berlin: ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival, Argentina: VideoBardo Festival de Videopoesía
Featured in Poetry Film Live and Moving Poems.

Sadly Ángel Guinda passed away recently (Zaragoza 1948 – Madrid 29 January 2022). Sara Tremlett shared a tribute on Liberated Words as we dedicated our presentation in the Brave New Literatures festival of Versopolis to Ángel on 4 February 2022.

In Silence

(2014) In Silence, Olsen, Charles (poet), 2:30 min, Spain: antenablue.
Selected for Madrid: V Festival Internacional Febrero Poético, Massachusetts: Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival, Berlin: ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival, Bristol: Liberated Words, Grimsby: Lightworks Film Festival.
Featured in Poetry Film Live.