Nostalgies of the Far West

An intimate documentary about the life and times of Swiss poet and folk singer Mani Matter (1936-1972), seen from his friends' perspective.

Les équilibristes, a film by Nico Papatakis with Michel Piccoli, inspired by Jean Genet, was broadcast in two parts on October 11 and 18, 1991, on the Sept. It was on this occasion that Philippe Grandrieux directed this short film for the Seven antenna, consisting of an interview with Nico Papatakis and the reading of excerpts from Jean Genet's text, “The Tightrope walker”, read by the actress Ann-Gisel Glass.

Blanca Luz Brum traveled an unusual path, through twentieth-century Latin America, actively participating in the intellectual, political and artistic movements of Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Mexico. It is today a symbol of female emancipation in Latin America. The versions about her life are varied and dissimilar, the testimonies of those who knew her, full of contradictions.

A dramatized approach to the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) through the recreation of some of his works and the staging of various aspects of his thought and his life.

A tribute to the poet Patrizia Cavalli

This film is dedicated to Mas-Félipe Delavouët, the poet discovered by Lawrence Durrell, who wrote 14,000 verses in Provençal over a period of thirty years, and who died on November 18, 1990. "The sky, history and Mediterranean and Provençal myths are the inexhaustable wellspring of this man rooted down there, near Salon-de-Provence" (J.-D. Pollet). "Mas-Félipe Delavouët wrote five books in Provençal, 14,000 verses. A sort of "Odyssey". Of myths. What is stunning in him is that he always talks of disappearances. Cities, works, men, writings, television, etc., everything has to disappear. In order to be reborn. No pain. A sort of hand-to-hand of man and nature. During the filming, I would simply throw out some words... For example, one time I said "creation" and he said: "creation doesn't exist..., creation is before me..., I can only read creation"; this sentence describes Delavouët perfectly (J.-D. Pollet, 1989 and 1993).

The life and work of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, a long interview, fragments of some of his most significant verses and dramatizations of some of his stories. Borges for everyone.

The Poem, My Old Mother

A look at the theme of love in the life of the poet WH Auden, who wrote such famous poems as "Stop All the Clocks" (made famous in "Four Weddings and a Funeral"), "Lay Your Sleeping Head My Love" and "As I Walked Out One Evening". This film centres on new interviews with Auden’s close friends and looks at how his most important relationships were reflected in some of the greatest poems of the 20th century.

A day in the life of Swedish poet Karl Holmqvist.

He is considered the greatest European poet of the Middle Ages and his work unfolds the whole panopticon of occidental education – theology, philosophy, sciences, politics and literature. But who has really read it, the “Divine Comedy”? Who knows more of its creator Dante Alighieri than that he had an eagle-like profile and was in love with a woman named Beatrice? 700 years after Dante’s death, the filmmaker Adolfo Conti travels through Italy with Dante’s words in mind and eyes to see the world as Dante did. As the film encounters the beauty of arts and the Tuscan landscape, the forces of nature, a dramatic life story is unfolded.

An account of the experiences by poet and National Literature Award laureate Raúl Zurita, during his travels and his daily life, as he reflects on topics such as state terrorism and death

A chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances and politics.

This documentary is a chronicle of the journey through the most important sites of the life of venezuelan writer Francisco Massiani who reveals the details of his work and the love of his life.

An account of the life and work of the Spanish poet Luis García Montero; a journey through his experiences, his mentors, his influences and his contact with other artists, both from the literary world and from other disciplines.

A documentary that portrays not only the poet and painter Mario Cesariny but as well his life, his journey and his individuality.

Documentary about the German poet Erich Weinert.

In 1244, Jelaluddin Rumi, a Sufi scholar in Konya, Turkey, met an itinerant dervish, Shams of Tabriz. A powerful friendship ensued. When Shams died, the grieving Rumi gripped a pole in his garden, and turning round it, began reciting imagistic poetry about inner life and love of God. After Rumi's death, his son founded the Mevlevi Sufi order, the whirling dervishes. Lovers of Rumi's poems comment on their power and meaning, including religious historian Huston Smith, writer Simone Fattal, poet Robery Bly, and Coleman Barks, who reworks literal translations of Rumi into poetic English. Musicians accompany Barks and Bly as they recite their versions of several of Rumi's ecstatic poems.

Pablo Neruda’s life unfolds and becomes the basis for the symbolic representation of his poem “Barcarola”, intermixing live action, still footage, computer images, dance and poetry.

Reflections on writing, life and death with French Canadian poet Marie Uguay, who would die of bone cancer shortly after the making of this film.