In recognition of National Poetry Month, BFF is co-presenting with California Film Institute a special film festival of works about acclaimed American poets. The six programs will run on consecutive Sundays in April at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, California, and several of the filmmakers and leading poets will participate.
The films selected are The Practice of the Wild, (Gary Snyder) by John Healey (April 3, 4:15 pm); Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder, by Christopher Felver (April 3, 7:00 pm); Even Though the Whole World is Burning, (W.S. Merwin) by Stefan Shaefer (April 10, 4:15 pm); Robert Bly: A Thousand Years of Joy, by Haydn Reiss (April 10, 7:00 pm); BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez, by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Janet Goldwater, and Barbara Attie (April 17, 4:15 pm); and Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, by Pratibha Parmar (April 17, 7:00 pm). Filmmakers Pratibha Parmar, Chris Felver, and Haydn Reiss will be in person at the screenings of their films.
Other special guests include poet and author Jane Hirshfield; author and producer Will Hearst; and Prartho Sereno, Poet Laureate of Marin County.
“Poetry has always been at the heart of the Buddhist traditions,” said Gaetano Kazuo Maida, BFF executive director. “From the Buddha’s own stepmother Mahapajapati Gotami, to Nagarjuna, Milarepa, Rengetsu and Han Shan to Paul Reps, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, W.S. Merwin, Ko Un, Diane DiPrima, and Thich Nhat Hanh and so many others, Buddhist practitioners have expressed themselves in poems that inspire us to this day. Anyone can enter a celebration of poets and their poems, of life, through these films.”
Tickets are now on sale. For venue and ticket information, please visit Smith Rafael Film Center.
