Independent arts incubators Kindling Arts and Defy Film Festival unite once again for a second installment of Heroic Couplets: Poetry into Film Collaborations. This year's theme, GENDERBEND, is being explored by 8 pairs of local artists (one poet + one filmmaker) who together create a cinematic adaptation of a poetic work. All artists participating on the line-up are female-identifying and/or LGBTQIA+, and many of the poetic works explore deeply personal topics of gender identity, fitting into societal norms, and complicated family dynamics from a uniquely queer perspective. The premiere screenings at OZ Arts will include all 8 short films, plus a chance to hear from some of the collaborating teams after each screening, moderated by Defy's Dycee Wildman. The participating artists are:Simba Alik x Nichole Marie Lim*Rachel Ebio x Chalet Comellas-Baker*Kashif Andrew Graham x Jose Luis Benavides** Theo Hall x Tiffany Abreu** CJ Holiday x Samantha Szwaglis**Nora Masters x Abbey Johnson*Taria Person x Chanel Braswell*Amie Whittemore x Brynn Abner***Notes artists speaking after the screening on Saturday, May 14th at 8PM.**Notes artists speaking after the screening on Sunday, May 22nd at 5PM