Southbank Centre is very proud to announce the shortlisted poetry films for its inaugural poetry film competition. Shot Through the Heart Poetry Film competition received entries from all over the world and judges selected 10 films to showcase at the prize giving evening in the Purcell Room at Southbank Centre as part of Poetry International Festival on Friday 19 July. 

There were two prizes – one for films made for adults and one for films made for children – all inspired by the themes of the Southbank Centre’s Festival of Love.

The shortlisted films for adults were:

1. Three Heart Poems by Simon Barraclough, Animation by Carolina Melis
2. Millionaire by Michelle Oliver (Mab Jones), Animation by Lauren Orme and Jordan Brooke
3. I’ll murder you by Sarah King, Amit Lennon and Francesca Beard
4. Rolling Frames by Ella Jane Chappell, Film by Katie Garrett
5. London by poet Sophie Herxheimer and filmmaker Joseph Giffard Tutt
6. Bitch by Catherine Linton
7. Loveletter to Francis by poet Stacy Makishi, Director Nick Parish, Exectuive Producer Marc Boothe
8. This is not a thank you by Be Manzini
9. Best by Kerry Bradley
10. Sitting for the Mistress by poet Seni Seneviratne, Director Shirley Harris, Production diva creative ltd.

Judges also selected poet and filmmaker Robert Peake as the winner of the children’s prize with his film Buttons about two creatures that find long distance love.  Robert Peake is an American poet in England and will be joining the Southbank Centre on the Clore Ballroom on Saturday 19 July to talk about his winning film and show us some of his favourite poetry films for children.

Winning films receive £500 to be split between poet and filmmaker as well as a pair of tickets each to Poetry International’s Gala Reading. The winning children’s film will be shown in Imagine Children’s Festival 2015 headlining a children’s poetry film event and both winning films will be shown at 2014’s ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in Berlin.

‘I can see the genre evolving and becoming increasingly acknowledged; however, there is still significant scope for development. Poetryfilms offer opportunities to create fresh semiotics and to explore the art of meaning-making in new ways. Of Southbank Centre’s seventy three competition entries, the strongest material best embraced these challenges.’ 

(Malgorzata Kitowski, Founder and Director of PoetryFilm who has been making poetryfilms and producing curated PoetryFilm events for 15 years)

‘It was a pleasure for me to watch the films and to discover some well-known filmmakers and poets, but new filmmakers, too. I have seen a lots of films but the nominated films are really very good films and it will be pleasure for me to show some of them at the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival.’

(Thomas Zandegiacomo Del Bel, Artistic Director of Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin)