The United States of Poetry

Go coast to coast for a new look at the spoken word.

Series
Independent Lens, PBS Plus Presentation, Independent Lens
Premiere Date
February 1, 1996
Length
150 minutes
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    1995 National Educational Media Network-Gold Apple (Language Arts)
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    1995 SFFilm Festival-Special Juror’s Award
  • Nominated laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    1996 International Documentary Association (IDA)-Distinguished Achievement Award
    • Director

    Mark Pellington

    Producer

    Josh Blum

    Joshua Blum is founder and Executive Producer of Washington Square Films, Inc. His newest feature film projects include Executive Producer on All Is Lost, starring Robert Redford, and written and directed by J.C. Chandor; and Producer on Listen Up Philip, starring Elisabeth Moss and Jason Schwartzman, and directed by Alex Ross Perry, slated for a… Show more 2014 release. Past film and television projects he has produced include Margin Call, a drama starring Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Simon Baker, and Jeremy Irons, written and directed by Chandor (nominated for Best Original Screenplay Academy Award in 2011); Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life, directed by Robert Levi; And Everything Is Going Fine, a film featuring the life of Spalding Gray, directed by Steven Soderbergh; No Joking, a half-hour special for the Sundance Channel, celebrating the posthumous pardon of Lenny Bruce, directed by Bob Balaban; and Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy, both directed by Kelly Reichert. Show less

    Other ITVS Films
    Playwright: From Page to Stage
    Producer

    Bob Holman

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    The Film

    Directed by Mark Pellington, this five-part series breathes life into the poetry that surrounds us every day. Strikingly photographed, The United States of Poetry goes from coast to coast, and from Poet Laureates to up'n'comers, to give viewers a new look at the spoken word.

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