Ben Barton - British Poet - NO ONE READS POETRY (BBC)

NO ONE READS POETRY is the short film Ben made for the BBC Video Nation project. First appearing online, it was then broadcast on the digital channel BBCi, and formed part of an interactive project with Sky TV. A radio version was broadcast on Radio Kent, and some of the poems written while making the film were published on the website bbc.co.uk

“[No One Reads Poetry] came about quite unexpectedly. In my initial notes the project was called 'Poetry and the Office' and was basically just a rant about my robotic office job. I felt trapped, and never had enough time to write. I was also receiving frequent rejections at that time, so I guess it was just that.
The strange thing was – within weeks of making the film I began working full time as an advertising writer, so finding the time to write was no longer a problem – I was writing over 40 hours every week! But that of course brings its own problems…
I'm not exactly proud of the film, far from it, but you have to understand how hard it is to get poetry or poets on TV these days. All those channels and the only poetry you'll ever see is some shit compilation by 'Dizzy' Goodwin (!) or the occasional smutty limerick. Poetry as a whole, is totally neglected, so I guess I have to be thankful to be shown at all...
It's funny to look back on – as well as a chilling reminder of how camp I become when nervous.”

As video cameras became smaller and easier to use during the Eighties and Nineties, Video Diaries became a popular format to take a look at people's lives.

In 1993 Chris Mohr and Mandy Rose of the Community Programmes Unit started Video Nation, using a series of cameras distributed across the UK. The contributors were given their Hi-8 camera for one year, during which time they filmed their everyday lives. The response to Video Nation was immediate.

More than 10,000 tapes were shot and sent into the BBC, from which approximately 1300 shorts were edited and shown on television, the first of which was Mirror by Gordon Hencher. The popularity of the format (viewing figures varied from 1 million to 9 million) led to two awards - a Race in the Media Award and the European Prix Iris.

"The immediacy of these programmes is entirely different to anything shot by a crew.
There seems to be nothing between you, not even the glass..."
The Guardian

T h e f i l m w a s f e a t u r e d i n a n u m b e r o f m a g a z i n e s -

r e a d t h e m h e r e :

Writers' News [READ]

e-poets [READ]

Sentinel Poetry magazine [READ]

POETTEXT.com [READ]

NO ONE READS POETRY featured the poem 'Silent Elevator' [READ]