Film Overview

This CENSORED single disc DVD of SlamNation is appropriate for classroom use.

For performance, educational and circulation rights of the UNCENSORED double-disc set for libraries and other institutions, please buy the SlamNation Institutional DVD: http://www.filmbaby.com/films/555

This special Educational DVD comes with a completely censored 50 minute version of SlamNation that is appropriate for classrooms of all ages. It also contains a "bleeped" full-length version of the film for older students (some sexual references, but no profanity). The uncensored version of the film is also available. Access to a teacher's guide makes this an all inclusive DVD for educators.

"No other recording I play for my high school Poetry Workshop classes speaks to my students as powerfully as SlamNation, and the brilliance of this new Educational Edition is its flexibility. The re-edited, fifty-minute classroom version preserves the intensity of the original, condensing the history and richness of performance poetry into the length of a standard class period, and if, like many of my students, you can't resist the inspired raciness of Beau Sia's most outrageous poems, two versions of the ninety-three minute film are also available: the uncensored original that is perfect for college audiences, plus a censored, full-length edition that allows high school teachers like me to expose upperclassmen to a range of exuberant, sometimes edgy poets without worrying about some of the more colorful language used."

-Emily Moore
Poetry Workshop Teacher
English Department
Stuyvesant High School

Before Russell Simmons' highly acclaimed HBO series Def Poetry Jam, SLAMNATION captured the cutthroat world of spoken-word poetry with an "energy that pulses, snaps and crackles" (Chicago Tribune).

"Frenetically High-Powered!"
-- Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Over 200 performance poets journey to the National Poetry Slam to compete in this verbal slugfest. New York's novice dream team of Saul Williams (Slam), Beau Sia (Def Poety Jam on Broadway), muMs the Schemer (HBO's OZ) and Jessica Care Moore (Showtime at the Apollo) are pitted against the ruthlessly competitive Taylor Mali (HBO's Def Poetry Jam) in 4 days of elimination bouts culminating in a rousing, sold-out final showdown.

SlamNation's release in theaters across the US and on HBO/Cinemax, helped popularize the dynamic genre of slam poetry, which has recently been featured in a Tony Award-winning Broadway show and an HBO original series.

"Wildly entertaining! This film should find its way into the classroom. A year's worth of dry lectures can't touch this experience!" --Robert W. Butler, The Kansas City Star