Cadence: Video Poetry Festival (April 16-25) approaches video poetry as a literary genre presented as visual media that makes new meaning from the combination of text and moving image. Featuring screenings, an artist residency, generative workshops for youth and adults, and juried awards, the festival fosters critical and creative growth around the medium of video poetry.

The Cadence Artist-in-Residence program provides resources and tools for the development of a new video poem to screen at the 2021 festival! Purchase tickets for the festival, then RSVP for this discussion on April 19.

Natachi Mez (she/her) is an Igbo, Nigerian-American writer, performer, and emcee from the Sacramento area in California. Natachi is a two time finalist at the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI), and has featured at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Oberlin College, as well as at venues in Accra, Copenhagen, and Istanbul.

Natachi facilitates dynamic experiences that deepen audience engagement and celebrate community voice. Natachi has worked with youth communities and people who are incarcerated to engage writing and rapping as tools of empowerment. She has facilitated writing and performance workshops at Tufts University, Rutgers University, Rikers Island, and more.

Natachi graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Computer Science, and works as Business Program Manager, focusing on community building, communications, intercultural awareness, and design.

You can find Natachi’s words featured or forthcoming in Interstellar Flight Magazine, Unplug Mag, Gumbo Magazine, Breadcrumbs Magazine, Write About Now, or on instagram @natachi.life.

Wes Hurley’s autobiographical dark comedy about a young boy growing up in the collapsing USSR, his courageous mail-order bride mother, and their adventurous escape to Seattle in the ’90s! Full of unexpected twists, the film is an immigrant’s take on the American Dream and the power of cinema, proving that life is often stranger than fiction.

Premiering at SXSW 2021, March 16–20! Purchase a ticket for the film, then RSVP for this discussion on February 22.

Director Wes Hurley, Producer Mischa Jakupcak, Composers Catherine Joy and Joshua Kohl, Costume Designer Harmony Arnold, and Assistant Director / Executive Producer Sarah Crowe will be in conversation with Northwest Film Forum’s Executive Director Vivian Hua, but participants are encouraged to bring your questions and comments!

What if we are living in a simulation, and the world as we know it is not real? To tackle this mind-bending idea, acclaimed filmmaker Rodney Ascher (Room 237, The Nightmare) uses a noted speech from Philip K. Dick to dive down the rabbit hole of science, philosophy, and conspiracy theory. Leaving no stone unturned in exploring the unprovable, the film uses contemporary cultural touchstones like The Matrix, interviews with real people shrouded in digital avatars, and a wide array of voices, expert and amateur alike.

Screening through February 28, 2021! Purchase a ticket for the film, then RSVP for this discussion on February 22.

Join us to talk about the film, and the process of making it. NEWCOMER is an intimate documentary film that is an introduction to Seattle’s vibrant hip-hop underground, assembled from hundreds of tiny performance clips into a single, continuous concert mosaic. The film was shot and edited by Canadian multimedia artist, journalist, and filmmaker Gary Campbell. For the past eight years, he’s been documenting the distinctive hip-hop culture of the Pacific Northwest through writing, photography, video, ‘zines, and events. He’s the Creative Director of the Crane City Music collection, an essential listening library of Seattle hip-hop on wax.