with photos and reviews from
Benjamin Burns, Aysar Ghassan, Shaunna Lee Lynch and Raef Boylan.
[L-R] Shaunna Lee Lynch, Benjamin Burns, Aysar Ghassan & Raef Boylan
In 2019 Ó Bhéal welcomed Coventry poets Aysar Ghassan and Raef Boylan to Cork in August, while Cork poets Shaunna Lee Lynch and Benjamin Burns were sent (ceremoniously!) to Coventry, for two readings in November.
13th October 2019
Our congratulations to Dublin based filmmaker Fiona Aryan whose film Virginia gave me Roses is Ó Bhéal’s 7th poetry-film competition winner, as announced at the IndieCork Festival awards ceremony. Fiona’s film won amid very tough competition from 31 other shortlisted entries representing 33 countries, the details of which you can view here. Our special thanks to all the poets and filmmakers who submitted this year. A record 198 films were submitted from 33 countries.
Poem: Virginia gave me Roses by Lani O’Hanlon
Synopsis – A film exploring impermanence, female relationships and the rituals that sustain us in times of sorrow, loss and joy.
Director: Fiona Aryan (Ireland)
Fiona Aryan is an artist and filmmaker who likes to look at the beauty and magic that can be found in everyday life. ‘Going to the Well’, a poetry-film made with poet Lani O’Hanlon was shortlisted for the Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film competition in 2018. She is currently studying for a degree in film and TV production.
“… a soft-focused, memory-like family interaction that supports, compliments and, at the same time, adds weight to an original text that is both moving and strongly visual … transports the viewer into a dreamlike state where one is enveloped by the profound sense of love and safety which being in a close-knit family occasion provides. – Stan Notte
“… though an awful lot of the entries were beautifully filmed and made, not all of the poems were strong enough to carry their film. Virginia Gave me Roses immediately worked for me on first viewing, and only improved as I watched it again. The beauty of the poem was matched by the subtle imagining of the visual. – Colm Scully
