Collaborating together to produce ’a powerful visual rendering’ of a poem, has gained an international award for two local artists.

Film maker Janet Lees and musician Martyn Cain were handed the first prize in the � Bhéal International Poetry-Film Competition, an arts prize awarded by an Irish arts society.

The award was given to both Janet and Martyn for their joint film, an animated and visual representation of a poem called ’What I fear Most is Becoming "A Poet"’, by the modern Greek poet Katerina Gogou.

The video combines animated still images over a dark and brooding sound track, with the words of the poem running throughout the piece and was credited by the judges of the prize as a ’stunning example of film poetry as a unique art form’.

’The haunting, completely captivating visuals, the almost hesitant text, and the very absence of voice bringing us so much closer to the poet’s inner sanctum,’ wrote Paul Casey, founder and director of the Ã? Bhéal prize.

Janet entered two films in to the prize, with the other film being her entry into the Island Utopias project.

Her winning film came as a result of a commission by the Institute of Experimental Arts, based in Greece, who wanted to showcase modern Greek poets.

She was given the work by Gogou, a feminist anarchist poet who fought against the far-right military junta who controlled Greece for much of the post-war twentieth century.

’It was a massive responsibility,’ said Janet.

’The commission is all about celebrating these Greek poets and that is a massive responsibility, to try and bring that poem to life.

’Its a really scary one too, as I’ve never done that before. It’s one thing to work with your own writing but another altogether to do it with someone else’s.

’It is quite a bitter poem,’ she added.

’She was in a state of depression when she wrote it and it was about her fear about her becoming a poet who was a puppet of the state.

’She had a hell of a life, but she never stopped writing and telling her truth. What she feared was that she would become a puppet of the state and be used as a propaganda tool.’

Covid stopped Janet’s initial plans to travel to Athens and film her sequences there, so she captured her images in and around the island.

’It was difficult to put to film,’ said Janet.

’I had to use a lot of my own urban footage. Most of the film is made using animated stills, taken around Douglas.

’I gave it an urban, dark, simmering feel. It is one of the hardest things I’ve ever worked on.’

Martyn, who produced the soundtrack, said: ’Both the music and Janet’s videos help set the scene for the poem, so it doesn’t need to be a total interpretation of what the words were saying.

’The sound and vision go well together and that lets your mind make the connection between that and the words of the poem.’

Janet and Martyn’s video of ’What I fear Most is Becoming "A Poet"’ is available to view on YouTube.