Book
Formatted to look like words projected in a movie theater, Laura Paul’s Film Elegy is an evocative tribute to the medium. Framed by the death of filmmaker Amy Halpern, who the author worked for early in her career, the text tracks the relationship of an apprentice to a mentor who is no longer there. “I mourn film and cinema,” Paul writes, “I cry tears of lubricating fluid for the machines of our projections.” Throughout the book, Paul crafts a skillful lexicon of punctuation to invoke sprocket holes, flickering light, and cutaway shots as a celebratory lament for a craft that may soon belong solely to the past. Film Elegy is for anyone who’s ever loved a person or a motion picture and for those who wish for the dreams of the screen to manifest into a better reality for all.
Click here to purchase through PRROBLEM Press
Media:
📖 Film Elegy events mentioned on Criterion Collection’s The Daily
📖 Film Elegy in Mubi.com’s Notebook News
📖 Film Elegy listed as recommended reading by The Stranger
📖 Interviewed by Mike Corrao about Film Elegy for Full Stop Magazine
🎙️Podcast: Film, Friends, and Poetry with Laura Paul
🎙️Podcast: Just Death with Laura Paul, LJ Pemberton, and Lauren Bolger
Upcoming events:
💥 March 26th-30th, 2025 - Film Elegy at AWP in Los Angeles
💥 April 10th-13th, 2025 - Film Elegy at New Orleans Poetry Festival
Past events:
🎞️ Sunday, February 23rd, 2025, 1:30pm - Film Elegy at Elastic Arts in Chicago, with a screening of Amy Halpern short films. (3429 W Diversey Ave #208, Chicago, IL 60647).
🎞️ Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, 6pm - Film Elegy at Inga Bookshop in Chicago, with a screening of Amy Halpern short films. (1740 W 18th St, Chicago, IL 60608).
🎞️ Friday, February 21st, 2025, 7pm - Film Elegy at Block Cinema at Northwestern University with a screening of Amy Halpern’s Falling Lessons. (40 Arts Cir Dr, Evanston, IL 60208).
💥 Saturday, February 1st, 2025, 6pm - Film Elegy in New Orleans at the Splice Poetry Series at Saturn Bar (3067 St. Claude Ave. New Orleans, LA 70117), with Jace Brittain.
💥 Saturday, January 25th, 2025, 7pm - Film Elegy in Denver at Counterpath (7935 East 14th Avenue, Denver, CO, 80220), with Kelly Krumrie & Matt Broaddus.
🎞️ Saturday, December 7th, 2024 at 1pm - LA Launch with Acropolis Cinema at 2220 Arts + Archives (2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057). Screening of Amy Halpern's Falling Lessons and Nina Menkes’ The Great Sadness of Zohara, with a discussion with Laura Paul and Nina Menkes following.
💥 Wednesday, November 6th, 2024 - Film Elegy in Chicago at The Whistler, hosted by Ben Niespodziany. With Robert Kloss, Meg Forajter, Zan de Parry, Meghan Lamb, & Paul Cunningham.
💥 Saturday, November 2nd, 2024 - Film Elegy at the Cascadia Poetry Festival in Seattle.
🎞️ Monday, October 21st, 2024 at 7pm - Santa Fe Launch at No Name Cinema. Screening of Amy Halpern's short films with a reading from the book. Press: Pasatiempo
🎞️ Thursday, October 17th, 2024 at 7pm - NYC Launch at Filmmakers Cooperative (475 Park Avenue South, 6th Floor in Manhattan). Screening of Amy Halpern's films with a reading from the book.
To request a review copy, contact: starstostories@gmail.com