The Poets
The Poets (collection)
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1h 39m
Directed by Chivas DeVinck • Documentary • 2018 • 99 minutes
Syl Cheney-Coker (author of The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize) and Niyi Osundare (recipient of the Nigerian National Merit Award, Nigeria’s highest recognition for distinguished academic and creative achievement) are two of Africa’s most respected writers. In this film, they discuss the personal and professional friendship that has nurtured their lives and careers for more than 35 years.
THE POETS accompanies CheneyCoker and Osundare over three weeks, as they return to the landscapes and places that formed their early influences, shaping their writing for decades to come. Whether speaking to admiring high school students, standing in a traditional Nigerian market and comparing it to the alienating experience of shopping in America, or talking politics and censorship in a cab, Osundare and Cheney-Coker are fascinating companions.
“Wonderful! Viewers will be held captive by the passionate, vivid accounts of the bold, trailblazing poets.” —Tambay A. Obenson, Shadow and Act
Up Next in The Poets (collection)
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A Quiet Passion
Directed by Terence Davies • Drama • With Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle • 2017 • 126 minutes
Cynthia Nixon delivers a triumphant performance as Emily Dickinson as she personifies the wit, intellectual independence and pathos of the poet whose genius only came to be recognized after her death. Acc...
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Roque Dalton
Directed by Tina Leisch • Documentary • 2013 • 85 minutes
It was once illegal to read books by Roque Dalton, one of El Salvador's most celebrated poets, in his own country. A descendant of legendary outlaws the Dalton Gang, he devoted his life to the cause of socialist revolution in Latin Americ...
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Yiddish
Directed by Nurith Aviv • Documentary • 2020 • 61 minutes
In Nurith Aviv’s unexpected, original documentary, seven young interviewees share their love for Yiddish avant-garde poetry written between the World Wars. An expressive hybrid “jargon” with roots in Hebrew, German and Slavic languages, Y...
