Submissions for the 2026 Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival are open!

In 2023, I was invited by festival director Alfio Leotta (with me in the first slide) together with Lilian Pallares Campo, Chris Price and Paul Wolffram Paul Wolffram, to be part of the festival jury. It was a wonderful experience and great to see all the entries from across New Zealand.

I had begun researching poetry film in New Zealand and prepared an article ‘How to Film a Poem’, which you can read in Newsroom.

The deadline for submitting poetry films is 25 September 2026 and the festival will form part of the 2026 Film Adjacent Experimental Film Symposium on 21 and 22 November, 2026.

This two-day event will feature six programmes, multiple roundtable discussions, and a filmmaking workshop. It will take place at Massey Cinema, Block 10 Tokomaru.

Submissions via: https://filmfreeway.com/AotearoaPoetryFilmFestival-1 (or go to FilmFreeway and search Aotearoa)

Video has been an important part of Given Words, with ‘word films’ being made by children in Honduras, Spain and New Zealand, and last year’s five words from international poetry film makers. I’m also really excited that two of the winning poems from Given Words have been made into poetry films and I will be screening them as part of my curated presentation at the REELpoetry Int’l Film Festival in September. I will be sharing more info closer to the event.

So, if you have made, or would like to make, a poetry film, give it a go and send it on FilmFreeway to the ‘Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival’ by 25 September!