Poems on the big screen? Motionpoems. — by Motionpoems

Angella Kassube and Jeff Saunders are a pair of poetry lovers who share a passion for animation. Their collaborative project, Motionpoems, marries the two by transforming the work of poets into interpretative, highly creative animated shorts. Their work has catapulted them into text books and film festivals worldwide, and this year they’ve been invited to create 15 animations to accompany the annual Best American Poetry anthology.

As the scope of traditional publishing is transformed by the unique challenges and opportunities presented by digital media, Motionpoems seek to straddle the divide, creating a place where audiences can experience both the classical feeling (poetry) and the distinctly modern (experimental animation). It’s a project with a simple, albeit ambitious, mission: to broaden the audience for poetry by expanding it’s appeal to our (eek) admittedly attention-deficit contemporary culture. Judging by the amount of time I’ve spent on their Vimeo channel over the last few weeks, I would consider them a success.

You can peruse a selection of my favorites below (don’t miss “RENDER RENDER”), and support the project here.