Multi-award-winning wordsmith Philani Amadeus Nyoni (PAN) is set to conquer the world as his elegy We Will Write, has been selected to feature on the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival which started running from 25 to 28 November.
The festival is the biggest video-poetry festival in the world, gathering only the best fusions of spoken word and film from across the world, annually.It will take place at URANIA, Berlin, Germany and 30 films were nominated for the competition with the best poetry film for children to be awarded the ZEBRINO audience award.
Accompanying the competition, the festival will provide insight into the diversity of the poetry film scene in 15 programmes with 180 animated, features and experimental films as well as documentaries to be watched.
This is not the only festival the poem, which featured on PAN’s last publication Philtrum 2.0, is selected to appear on.
It is also officially selected for the New York Short Film Festival in Manhattan.
The New York gig will run from 10 to 16 December at the Cinema Village and PAN will face competition from renowned creatives such as Fabio Stecher (Switzerland), Anastasia Arsan (United Kingdom), Rogier Schalkien (Netherlands), Takayuki Kayano (Japan), to mention a few.
On selection of the festivals, PAN said he was thrilled that his works were being recognised on a global scale.
“My selection to feature on the two big festivals is a sign of my visibility. We Will Write is a video of a poem published in my last solo publication Philtrum 2.0.
“It was performed by myself and directed by Gregory L. Sibanda. It was recorded in Bulawayo at The Orange Elephant bookshop, along 12th Ave extension.
“It talks about resilience. With all that is going on right now in the world, I think that is the message I want to put out there, give people hope and a fighting spirit,” said PAN.
He doesn’t take his nomination as coincidence.
He feels he has a story to share with the universe for it to be heard and embraced.
“Maybe there is a space in the wider world for other stories besides those of us with flies on our faces, maybe the world wants to hear our poetry,” recited PAN.
We Will Write is a, “cry of defiance, refusal to conform and be weighed down. It is about continuing forward by blood and ink”.
