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Peace Piece—The Immersive Poems of Mandy Kahn a documentary by Courtney Sell

4/13/2020

In response to these unprecedented times, filmmaker Courtney Sell has decided to release his feature-length documentary film on the peace-building works of poet Mandy Kahn online, and to make it available for free for the length of the COVID-19 quarantine.
Sell spent a year documenting Mandy Kahn’s peace-focused works of immersive poetry, which are performed by casts of actors and opera singers, and often include crowd participation, as well as props like bubbles and beach balls. The film includes selections from Kahn’s 2019 performance “Gateways to Peace” at the Getty Center museum in Los Angeles, which features large-scale interactive poems that incorporate musical techniques, a site-specific work in the museum’s tram, and a work that occupies the museum’s fountain. Also included are Kahn’s presentations at institutions like the Barrick Museum at UNLV and at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. In addition, the film documents intimate peace-building presentations in the Joshua Tree desert and on a ranch in Northern California.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Mandy Kahn is the 2019-2020 artist-in-residence at PRS. Kahn is the author of two poetry collections and her work is included in The Best American Poetry 2018. She’s given readings at Cambridge University and London Review Bookshop, has been interviewed on BBC Radio, has written opera libretto for MacArthur grantee Yuval Sharon and Pulitzer prizewinner Ellen Reid, and is the recipient of the 2018 Shakespeare Prize. Kahn’s current work focuses on spirituality, the honoring of nature and the arrival of peace in the world. While in residence at the PRS, Kahn will host a series of events that combine the presentation of creative works and conversations around how an artist’s personal peace-building practice intersects with their process of making. She’ll also be writing poems that take inspiration from the volumes in Manly P. Hall’s library. Kahn is available for office hours during her tenure here; inquire at the library if you’d like to arrange a meeting.