Miłosz 100-year jubilee – a cross-disciplinary celebration

Preparation Members of InterAlter, Filmtrolley, freelance photographer Marie Thorin, composer Mattias Hansson, amongst others, have come together to explore new possibilities in the interpretation of the poetic text. Working with the Czesław Miłosz anthology, Gdzie wschodzi słońce i kędy zapada i inne wiersze (Where the sun rises and where it sets and other poems, 1980), the goal of the project has been to create short, filmic interpretations of three of Miłosz’s poems: Hearsay, Ode to a Bird and Obedience. Breaking down linguistic barriers, the films aim to explore the associational resonances of each of the poems, revealing the richness and nuance of the poetic imagery and reviving these (sometimes forgotten) masterpieces of literature.

The challenge has been to effectively translate the poems into moving pictures; into short, artistic films. It is an innovative approach to the poetic text, revealing its potential for visual and auditory interpretation, and crossing the boundaries of genre and discipline to engage artists, filmmakers and musicians alike in the realisation of a coherent creative vision. The project functions both to reiterate the ongoing significance of great works of poetry to our modern lives, and to comment upon the broadening horizons of the contemporary cultural arena. Through every stage of development, the project has relied upon interdisciplinary collaboration, communication and interpretation; receiving input from fields as varied as visual arts, literary theory, science and music in order to prepare a new cinematic vision of the works of one of the twentieth century’s greatest poets.

Finally, throughout December we have had a couple of screenings with the completed triology; at the City Museum of Miedzychod, the University in Siedlce and at the Kino Swit (The Cinema of Dawn) in Warsaw. The film tour was amazing and hopefully our audience had just as an incredible time as we had

Next out will be a film screening in Poznan, Poland, at the Kino Muza, set to be the 16th february at the Nordic Film Festival!

The 19th of December a screening and a seminar celebrated the end of the Milosz year, at Hörsalen, Lund University.      

The 18th of October at room 313 SOL, at Lund University there was a film screening with seminar on the short film triology. 

The 21st of September at 10 am InterAlter had a presentation of the project for a class of Bachelor students at the Comparative Literature department at Lund University.

The 8th of September was the first screening of Ode to a bird, the first film in the triology. It was hosted by the City Park of Lund in the Green house that has turned into a gallery this very year.