Peter Hujar’s Day, directed by Ira Sachs, follows photographer Peter Hujar in the 1970s as he grapples with financial uncertainty and the looming AIDS crisis, while his work gains posthumous acclaim. The film captures the everyday reality of an artist’s life, from gossip and money worries to the slow progress of creative projects.
South Korean director Hong Sangsoo’s What Does That Nature Say to You centers on 35‑year‑old poet Donghwa, who works as a wedding‑video operator. After a tense dinner with his girlfriend’s family, he is dismissed by their artistic parents and left stranded on a roadside, symbolising the generational clash between idealism and practicality.
Colombian filmmaker Simón Mesa Soto’s A Poet follows Oscar Restrepo, a middle‑aged poet living with his mother. After a decade since his last prize‑winning book, Oscar confronts inaction and familial pressure to become a high‑school philosophy teacher, while mentoring a young student, Yurlady, in a creative‑writing workshop.
All three films use poetry as a lens to examine broader themes of identity, ambition, and the role of art in contemporary society, highlighting the personal costs and rewards of pursuing a poetic vocation.