Committing Poetry in Times of War

Committing Poetry in Times of War, winner of the 2007 Best Human Rights Film Award at the Taos Mountain Festival, is a poetic glance at a community’s creative response to a series of teacher firings, taking place in the context of police brutality and restrictive free speech zones - a nation at war abroad and with its people. When the bombs began to fall on Iraq, Youth Poetry Slam Team Coach, Bill Nevins, was suspended and later fired from his teaching job, while his outspoken High School Poetry Team was silenced. Nevins was the last of seven area educators removed by fearful administrations seeking to quell debate and expression by students. Days after Nevins' removal, hundreds of peaceful protestors demonstrating nearby were brutally assaulted by police. Demonstrators were continuously corralled into \"Free Speech Zones\" away from traffic and public view., and those venturing out of these zones onto their own sidewalks, were being held by police at gunpoint. Within weeks it appeared that the fabric of our Constitution had crumbled. Yet out of this fire aimed at silencing youth and suppressing civil liberties arose a committed community of courageous poets, and musicians. They came together across the country and was dubbed Poetic Justice. It defied the fear-tactics of the day to support and model freedom of speech and stand with the fired teacher. The voices from Poetic Justice, and the resulting film, stand as a testament to our creative spirit and an affirmation of the power of our words - a path toward transformation and hope in these troubling times. The film, with its \"blood pounding\" slam poetry, is being shown at Festivals world wide, was nominated for Best Documentary in South Africa's Everglades International Film Festival and won the prestigious Tellus Poetry Film of the Year Award. Audience members experience what one newspaper recently described as a \"visceral poem.\"

Channel: Amazon Video Length: 114m 0s Date Found: Tue, Sep 28 2010 1:57 AM Category: Movies Date Produced: Mon, Jan 01 2007 12:00 AM View Count: 0