AFTER II: Poetry of Contemporary War and Resilience 

The second film in a trilogy where poetry destroys silence.

85 Minutes, Color and B&W

“Art is the resistance of complacency. It always stands in opposition to numbness.” - Illya Kaminsky

Our world is awash in endless nationalism, terrorism, and wars. Governments collapse or hurtle towards totalitarianism. Millions of refugees seek their very survival. We live with nuclear escalation, environmental collapse, the promise and peril of AI, and more that threaten to change what we know about humanity and our planet.

What is the role of poetry in catastrophe? Should poets bury their heads in the sand or confront chaos in acts of creative discovery to help reimagine our future?

While making the first film of the trilogy, AFTER: Poetry Destroys Silence (2024), in which contemporary poets confront the Holocaust and discuss the responsibility of poetry to respond, the team understood that making a film about the past demanded a trilogy

Poems from and after the Shoah have seeped into our consciousness over the years, as detailed in the first film. The poems in AFTER II: Poetry of Contemporary War and Resilience will be more raw, more immediate. Whether written on the battlefield, fleeing as a refugee or losses due to climate change, the poems will reflect the challenges of our current world, along with hope for a better future.

In AFTER II: Poetry of Contemporary War and Resilience, gripping poetry from around the world will be showcased, presenting a lyrical and cinematic exploration of our world today. Each poem’s approach will be unique, a cinematic island designed to fit the physical story, place, and feeling of each work, accompanied by world-class evocative sound design and soundtrack music by some of the world’s great film composers. AFTER II will be shaped in a very contemporary kinetic, hip editing style that will attract young, savvy, and film-literate audiences drawn to the look and feel of the film, along with those of all ages interested in cinema and poetry. The timely and important questions asked by the poems will be delivered by renowned actors, writers, and musicians.

A compelling and cautionary tale, AFTER II: Poetry of Contemporary War and Resilience will utilize and build upon the connection between the power of cinematic imagery and dynamic, captivating poetic language to create a deep and moving experience for viewers. Working together for a long time, the team has developed a unique and engaging storytelling approach using cinematic devices and editorial energy.

Presenting works from renowned poets around the world, combined with the extraordinary cinematography of multi-award winner Lisa Rinzler, AFTER II: Poetry of Contemporary War and Resilience will reflect a world where everything is in question in our tumultuous and dangerous time of change, happening more rapidly than any time in our history.  

The team making AFTER II: Poetry of Contemporary War and Resilience believes it is the responsibility of poets to respond; and this film will meet our world, head on. The film will be filled with the hope of poets and the astonishing possibilities and promise that our world still holds. It is a deep dive into the creative responsibility of poets when faced with catastrophe to confront our world. The energy and emotion of the film is ultimately about human resiliency and the power of creativity in times of chaos and its aftermath. Viewers will be invited to watch a compelling, innovative performance hybrid documentary where poetry and cinema combine to create a new vision about our real-life conditions in our current world.

Poets need to respond to war; they must respond to war. Poetry invites the listener in to accompany the poet as they confront war, as they wrestle with our world, past, current, and future. Poets confront and engage with what it means to be human.