Poetry Film Club Festival
Bristol Docks on the John Sebastian Lightship.
​
Saturday 18th October 2025
11am - 9pm (doors open at 10.30am)
Join us for a day of poetry film!
Plenty of films, discussions,
a practical workshop, a talk and chat.
Enjoy the harbour.
Be inspired to make your own poetry film.
Check out visitor information and the programme further down the page.
Information
General information
​The John Sebastian Lightship (the boat with the light on the top) is in Bathurst Basin in Bristol Docks, BS1 6SU. There will be a sign outside to let you know you have arrived at the right place!
​
Access
​The venue is only accessible via stairs.
​
Parking
Parking: There is a small car park next to the Lightship called Lower Guinea Street Car Park with room for around 15 cars. If this is full, the nearest car parks are Redcliffe Parade Car Park BS1 6SW (very small), Wapping Wharf Car Park BS1 4RH (behind the MShed museum, and the cheapest), and The Grove Car Park BS1 4RB (near the Arnolfini). The largest car park is Millennium Square Car Park BS1 5LL which is about 10-15 minutes walk from the Lightship. If you have a blue badge, contact barbara.bloomfield [at] icloud.com and we can help you find a space.
​
Refreshments
There will be a full bar on the Lightship from 1pm, staffed by kind volunteers from the Cruising Club, which takes card or cash payment.
Tea and coffee is also available, self serve, from the lobby upstairs, please bring cash to pay.
​
Lunch
Please bring your own sandwich lunch with you. There are also places to eat nearby (Wapping Wharf with its cafes is four minutes’ walk away and The Ostrich Pub is very close to the boat. Limone Restaurant next door has a lunchtime special menu.)
​
Dinner
A curry dinner will be delivered at 6pm from Habibur and family at Naan&Co restaurant in Clifton.
​
HOW TO ORDER: Orders for this hot takeaway dinner served on the boat can be made on the day before 1pm. You can choose what you like from the menu attached and pay online - make sure to give your name and say Poetry Film Festival when you place your order. You can also order and pay online the day before, on 17th October, directly from the restaurant - don’t forget to give your full name and ask for delivery to the Poetry Film Festival so we can get food to the right people. Vegetarian, gluten free and meat options are available.
​​
​
​
​
​​
​
​​
Programme
11.00 Welcome
11.20 Ten films from the Poetry Film Collective
12.45 Book Launch - How to Make a Poetry Film by Festival Co-Director Helen Dewbery
How to Make a Poetry Film is a handbook for poets offering a step-by-step guide to creating a poetry film.
Helen Dewbery has been creating poetry films for over seventeen years and teaching and mentoring poetry film for
the past fourteen years. Helen is Director of Poetry Film live..
13.00 BREAK for LUNCH
14.00 Poetry films from Scotland, Ireland & Wales
15.15 Jane Glennie
Fragments and fabrications: poetry film between archives, archaeology, and AI
Jane Glennie is an artist and filmmaker known for her distinctive films made from sequences of still photographs.
She has a layered, painterly approach to text, image, and film. Her work has been shown internationally, earning
awards and recognition for its innovative approach to visual storytelling and experimental design.
​
16.15 Tea Break
16.45 Writing Words for Poetry Film
Practical workshop with poet and filmmaker Lucy English
In Poetry Films the relationship between words and images is central to the art form. Unlike traditional films, where images often illustrate the plot, poetry films tend to explore more abstract, emotional relationships between
language and visuals. In this workshop we will find some images to inspire us and start to write our own words
suitable for a poetry film.
Lucy English is a poet and filmmaker. Her poetry film projects include The Book of Hours, (shortlisted for the New
Media Writing Prize) and Cancer Alley, screened during the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival.
​
18.00 BREAK
19.15 The twelve selected poetry films from the International Poetry Film Competition.
The audience will judge their winner.
20.15 Voting and Break
20.45 The winner of the Audience Award is announced and the winning film shown.
21.00 Close
​
​
THANK
YOU
THE POETRY FILM CLUB WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL VOLUNTEERS FROM THE LIGHTSHIP, SATELLITE OF LOVE POETRY AND THE POETRY FILM COLLECTIVE WHO HAVE ALL MADE THIS FESTIVAL POSSIBLE.