''SlamNation'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

by director Paul Devlin. The film follows the

National Poetry Slam The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and, occasionally, Europe and Australia, participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurs in early August every year an ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. It follows the 1996 Nuyorican Poetry Slam team ( Saul Williams,

Beau Sia Beau Sia (, born 1976) is an American Poetry slam, slam poet. Life and career Sia was born in Ohio. He is of Chinese-Filipino descent. Raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Sia discovered spoken word poetry on MTV as a teenager. When not particip ...

muMs da Schemer Craig O'Neil Grant (December 18, 1968 – March 24, 2021), also known as Craig muMs Grant and muMs the Schemer, was an American poet and actor best known for his role as Arnold "Poet" Jackson on the HBO series '' Oz''. Life and career Grant wa ...

and

Jessica Care Moore Jessica Care Moore (born October 28, 1971) is an American poet. She is the CEO of Moore Black Press, executive producer of BLACK WOMEN ROCK!, and founder of the literacy-driven jess Care moore Foundation. An internationally renowned poet, playwri ...

) as they competed at the 1996

held in Portland, OR. The film also features performances by Marc Smith, Patricia Smith,

Taylor Mali Taylor McDowell Mali (born March 28, 1965) is an American slam poet, humorist, teacher, and voiceover artist. Life A 12th-generation native of New York City, Taylor Mali graduated from the Collegiate School, a private school for boys, in 1983 ...

, Alexandra Oliver and

Bob Holman Bob Holman is an American poet and poetry activist, most closely identified with the oral tradition, the spoken word, and poetry slam. As a promoter of poetry in many media, Holman has spent the last four decades working variously as an author ...

, among many others. The film is one of the first films to document the art and competition of the

poetry slam A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. ...

: a spoken word competition where judges, randomly chosen from the audience, score poets on a scale from one to ten and the poet with the highest score at the end of the evening wins. ''SlamNation'' premiered at the 1998 SXSW Film Festival and was awarded Best Documentary at the 1998 Northampton Independent Film Festival. ''SlamNation'' was broadcast on Cinemax/HBO and Starz/Encore, 2000–2002. Though it would only enjoy a limited theatrical run, the film was nonetheless critically well received.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

wrote a glowing review, calling the poetry slam "a pop culture phenomenon".http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19981023/REVIEWS/810230305/1023Roger Ebert's review of SlamNation In her book ''Words In Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam'', author

Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz ( ; born November 26, 1978) is an American nonfiction writer and poet. Life A native of Philadelphia, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz graduated from Central High School of Philadelphia in 1996 and received a B.F.A. in Dramati ...

calls the film "slam's second bible" (behind the Nuyorican anthology ''Aloud'') and writes,

References

External links

SlamNation official website
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Documentary films about poets American documentary films Works about slam poetry 1998 films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{arts-documentary-film-stub