Join us for a Reel Talk screening of Louder than a Bomb presented in collaboration with the Nebraska Writers Collective. The Nebraska Writers Collective fosters community through the power of the spoken and written word. They believe in providing a platform for every voice to be heard and every story to be told.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of their flagship program, All Writes Reserved. Since its inception following a screening of this film at the Ruth Sokoloff Theater, AWR has grown into Nebraska’s largest youth poetry initiative, empowering thousands of students to find their voices on and off the stage.

Stay after the film for a panel discussion featuring past and present NWC leaders and alumni, including emeritus Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason, Executive Director Zedeka Poindexter, Core Teaching Artist Pat McEvoy, and program alumni Jules Wuestewald.

Every year, more than six hundred teenagers from over sixty Chicago area schools gather for the world’s largest youth poetry slam, a competition known as “Louder Than a Bomb”. It's the only event of its kind in the country, demanding that kids work collaboratively with their peers, presenting, critiquing, and rewriting their pieces. For many kids, being a part of such an environment is life-changing.

LOUDER THAN A BOMB chronicles the stereotype-confounding stories of four teams as they prepare for and compete in the 2008 event. Poetry serves as an outlet for these students to capture their emotions and work through some very complex issues they face every day. While the topics they tackle are often deeply personal, what they put into their poems, and what they get out of them, is universal — the defining work of finding one’s voice.

Reviews
"After “Louder Than a Bomb” plays theatrically, it will air on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Why doesn’t Oprah consider it a pilot for a series? America’s Got Talent, all right, but maybe we’ve been looking for it in the wrong places." — Roger Ebert