‘Amergin’ is a video poem collaboration with poet, and my brother, Dylan Brennan. The work transposes the mythological first poet of Ireland to the semi-desert settings of northeastern Mexico. Loosely inspired by the fascinating story of Irish soldiers in 19th Mexico, Amergin weaves together lyrics, images, flora and fauna of the poet’s two countries (Ireland and Mexico) to create a hallucinogenic sense of estrangement and cross-pollination.
The concept, text and logistics were all down to Dylan and his extended Mexican family who hosted me, fed me and drove us around (thank you so much Paco, Laura, Yurri and Lily!). The filming, editing, post-production, sound and music, was my remit —with plenty of scope from Dylan for popping my own ideas in on the visual side of things. Having said that, the opening sequence of the dog trotting down the desert path was filmed by Dylan.
The poem comprises 14 sections and I tried to give a different visual feel to each one. A running motif throughout is the poet walking in the landscape, and of course Dylan’s voice. The full work is just under 15 minutes, and it had various configurations to fit with the time constraints of various film festivals throughout the world. We were especially delighted that the video poem had both Irish and Mexican screenings.
Throughout 2024 and 2025, ‘Amergin’ was selected for screening at multiple poetry film festivals worldwide, including ‘Festival Fotogenia’ (Mexico), ‘Bloomsday Film Festival’ and the ’14th Ó Bhéal Poetry Film Competition’, ‘Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival’ (New Zealand), and ‘Poetry Film Festival (USA) where it won the ‘Director’s Choice’ award.
Visit Amergin now to watch.
