Shanghai Tunnels Project – Video Poetry Contest

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from the Unshod Quills website:

INTERNATIONAL VIDEO POETRY FESTIVAL

SCREENINGS: PORTLAND OREGON – JACK LONDON BAR – 3/19/12 –  8 PM – COVER $8
SHANGHAI CHINA – THE RABBIT HOLE – 3/15/12 – 8 PM – COVER

HAL PUBLISHING OF SHANGHAI CHINA  and UNSHOD QUILLS OF PORTLAND, OREGON have teamed up with Portland’s Monica Storss to produce a cross-cultural, trans-Pacific video poetry film festival. Hosting bi-lateral events in Shanghai and Portland, the festival will celebrate the spoken word as infused by the medium of film, promoting and connecting artists from around the world.

Shanghai and Portland, Oregon have more in common than meets the untrained eye. Dark, busy, and both studded with Shanghai tunnels (those in Portland were used in the insidious pursuit of many illegal activities, including the kidnapping of young men for use as slave sailors on the Pacific; Shanghai’s own tunnels transport people in cars beneath the river to do whatever the hell they want). Both cities are divided by a river of trade and both cities are booming with literary communities as vibrant as anywhere else in the world. Both cities lay claim to Unshod Quills and HAL Publishing, sister sites and companies united in the pursuit of promoting excellent art and literature the world over.

$300 USD (RMB 1900) Grand Prize – Judges Choice for Best Video Poem – Second and Third Prizes – Screening Events in Shanghai and Portland, Oregon – Publication on HAL and Unshod Quills – SECOND AND THIRD PRIZES – DINNER AND BOOKS – more TBA

HAL Publishing, independent English language publisher based in Shanghai, China and Unshod Quills, a Pandemic Journal of the Arts and Letters based in Portland, Oregon, in cooperation with Monica Storss (www.monicastorss.org) of Portland, Oregon announce the first ever SHANGHAI TUNNELS PROJECT — AN INTERNATIONAL POETRY FILM FESTIVAL.

With screening events to be held during March 2012 in both Portland, Oregon and Shanghai, China, this festival will celebrate the art of video poetry—the mix of verse and video into a creative form all its own.

Between now and February 22, 2012, poets and video artists are invited to submit a video poem for entry into the festival. Initial judging will be conducted by editors from HAL Publishing and Unshod Quills.

Eleven finalists will be chosen. Three must reside in Shanghai and three must reside in Portland; remaining finalists may be from anywhere in the universe.

Finally, an international panel of five independent judges (including Mike Tsang, Editor at Penguin Books China, Tammy Ho Lai-Ming, editor for Hong Kong’s Asian Cha and London’s Fleeting Magazines, B Frayn Masters, writer and producer of Portland, Oregon’s Back Fence PDX, and author and publisher Kevin Sampsell, of Portland’s Future Tense Books)  will select the grand prize winner from a group of eleven finalists. Two judges will be Shanghai-based, two will be Portland-based and one will be based elsewhere.

Those eleven finalists will be featured at events screened live in Portland and Shanghai where audience members will be provided with a chance to vote for their city’s second and third place choices. There will be only one grand prize winner, but there will be two second and two third place winners.

Grand prize winner will be announced prior to the event

GRAND PRIZE: One winner will be awarded $300 USD/ 1900 RMB

SECOND PRIZE: (LOCALS ONLY) one artist based in Shanghai and one artist based in Portland will be awarded dinner and drinks for two at a local restaurant (Shanghai) or at UQ editor Dena Rash Guzman’s delightful pastoral home, Stargazer Farm in Sandy, Oregon, and assorted books provided by Future Tense Publishing (Portland.) One copy for each winner of HAL’s newest publication Middle Kingdom Underground will be awarded. Once copy for each winner of HAL’s first publication, Party Like It’s 1984 will be awarded.

THIRD PRIZE: Two finalists will receive a collection of books from HAL Publishing and other sponsors.

ALL FINALISTS WILL RECEIVE PRESS, PROMOTION AND/OR PUBLICATION BY UNSHOD QUILLS AND HALiterature.

(All prizes are subject to change depending on sponsorship, but the guaranteed GRAND PRIZE will be a minimum of $300.)

SHANGHAI TUNNELS CONTEST RULES AND REGULATIONS

• For the purposes of this competition and festival, video poetry is defined as a piece of film or video based around a poem. Therefore, entries must be a video or film and it must feature either some form of poetic text or spoken word.
• Video poetry entered into the contest is not to exceed five minutes in length.
• Each contestant may enter one (1) video poem.
• Videos may have been previously published, but they must reasonably be the property of the contestant. Collaborations between filmmakers and poets are welcome, but failure by the contestant to ensure both parties are willing to submit the video will result in disqualification. Further, any copyrighted material of any length or media not belonging to the contestant or his/her collaborator is strictly disallowed. By entering the contest, the participant agrees to relieve Shanghai Tunnels and its associates of all responsibility for ensuring work is legal to disseminate and that all parties owning rights to the video have been notified of entry.
• Contestants may live anywhere in the world. However, three Shanghai and three Portland based artists will be chosen in the preliminary round.
• There is no entry fee.
• Contestants may enter by completing an entry form providing a link to a hosted video poem to the email addresses provided for this purpose. No files will be accepted. Vimeo and Youtube, for example, are acceptable formats for initial entry.
• Finalists will be notified by March 1. Finalists will have five days to submit their work via an electronic file sharing system to the contest holders. A method will be assigned when finalists are announced. Failure to do so will disqualify finalist from the contest.
• Employees, family members, domestic partners, editors or board members of HAL Publishing, Unshod Quills or Monica Storss Publicity are ineligible to enter.

TO ENTER: ENTRY FORM 

Please download, fill out and return the entry form above by February 22 to both dena@haliterature.com and butler@haliterature.com. || enter ST SUBMISSION into header to ensure the proper delivery of your entry for the competition. || Please contact Wendy at unshodquills.com with any inquiries or questions. Thank you! Good luck.

Dena Rash Guzman's poetry was published in Issue #15 of Cha.