DVD | Color 16 min | Full Screen. Directed by Ken Kimmelman Produced by Ken Kimmelman, Robert Murphy & Imagery Film, Ltd.
ISBN 978-0-8026-0911-3
Price:$21.95*Home Video includes Public Library Circulation rights.
ISBN 978-0-8026-0912-0
Price:$199.95**Academic and Institutional price including Public Performance rights for non-paying audiences.
Consumers Reviews
Awards
"Best Editing"
-Chicago Short Film Festival
"Grand Festival Award In The Arts"
-Berkeley Film Festival, CA
"Gold Remi Award"
-Houston International Film Festival, TX
"Best U.S. Short"
-Avignon/New York Film Festival
"Platinum Best of Show"
-Aurora Awards, Salt Lake City, UT
"Achievement Award"
-Putnam Valley Film Festival, NY
"Best Experimental Short Film"
-Big Apple & Long Island Film Festivals, NY
"Premio Informazione"
-Tam Tam Digifest, Naples, Italy
Critics Reviews
"This award-winning 1925 poem--praised by William Carlos Williams and aptly called "magisterial" by historian Howard Zinn--was recorded in 1969 in the voice of its author, Eli Siegel, with whom the filmmaker studied. Kimmelman's belief that the poem is "so visual, I felt it had to be made into a film" has resulted in a striking one. Hot Afternoons ruminates on a time and a place, connecting them poetically with the entire world of people, events, and ideas and creating in effect an eternal moment of the spirit. Kimmelman has armed the poem's reading with a diverse array of both historical and contemporary images, which unfold to reveal Siegel's thoughts. What might not at first come to mind is that the film helps make poetry more accessible to today's young viewer. As you "read" the film's images, the words of the poetry seem to become more palpable to the ear, beyond the distinction lent them by Siegel's voice. A lovely short film for audiences from young adult and up.
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-Jeff Clark, James Madison Univ. Libs., Harrisonburg, VA - Library Journal
"Poet Eli Siegel reads his 1925 award-winning poem, which describes how a hot summer afternoon in Montana is related to the entire world, including its people and heritage. The visuals include…live-action footage accompanied by archival stills and paintings, resulting in a gently paced visual montage that superbly blends with Siegel’s narration. Care has been taken to utilize photos from the 1920s rather than modern images. The poem beckons, “Quiet and green was the grass of the field,” and makes connections with other places in the world. ….Useful in high-school or college poetry or film classes."
-James Scholtz, Booklist
"The year is 1924. The 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote, has just been passed. The first US aircraft carrier is commissioned. Mussolini comes to power in Italy. The USSR is created. Commercial radio is aired across the United States. Prohibition is in full effect—and the poet Eli Siegel (having never stepped foot in Montana) writes the 99 line “Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana.” Painting an expansive picture of America’s heritage and that “afternoons have to do with the whole world,” the poem was awarded the “Nation Poetry Prize” in 1925…
In this 15 minute short film, Director Ken Kimmelman combines a 1969 recording of Siegel reading Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana with visual images (archival stills from the 1920s, paintings, and some live-action footage) intended to express the diverse message of the work…
Recommended for libraries supporting poetry or film classes.
-Lisa Forrest, E. H. Butler Library, State University of New York College at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
"Ken Kimmelman's reproduction, on film, of Eli Siegel's magisterial poem is an extraordinary achievement. It matches, in its visual beauty, the elegance of Siegel's words, and adds the dimension of stunning imagery to an already profound work of art."
-Howard Zinn, historian
"A beautiful mixture of poetry and picture and imagination. You see the imagination flowing all through it."
-Gordon Parks, photographer
"Eli Siegel was one of my early heroes. I read 'Hot Afternoons' when I was 30. Your film is like a newsreel of what I saw. Thanks for preserving it for all of us."
-Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet
SummaryProduced and directed by Emmy Award-winner filmmaker Ken Kimmelman, the film is based on the esteemed 1925 Nation prize poem, "Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana," read by its author, Eli Siegel, founder of Aesthetic Realism.
Hot Afternoons is a dramatic and colorful montage, combining photographs, live-action and special effects. It takes us on a wonderful odyssey showing how a hot afternoon in Montana is related to the whole world. It so deeply honors the earth--its land, its history, its people.
