Moments of poetry pierce through the mundane at a small-town grocery

Name: Moments of poetry pierce through the mundane at a small-town grocery | Aeon Videos
Uploaded: 2023-10-16
Duration: 13 min
Description: How to to find poetry in small moments and the unlikeliest of places – eg, a small-town grocery story in Pahokee, Florida

A curiously compelling short, From Fish to Moon chronicles the rather unremarkable goings-on at a small grocery store in the town of Pahokee, Florida. Starting the day early, an employee, Jean Voltaire, makes small talk with coworkers and regulars, fiddles around with an in-store slot machine and, in the quiet moments, reads the epic poem The Conference of the Birds (c1177) by the Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar. Subdued and contemplative, the US filmmaker Kevin Contento’s work seems to ask viewers to find poetry, as his subject does, in small moments and the unlikeliest of places.

Director: Kevin Contento

Producer: Jean Voltaire

16 October 2023

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