$10-20 Suggested Donation

A documentary film on Bay Area poet Jack Hirschman.
Matthew Furey (Director) and Francis Furey (Producer)

Red Poet screens at The Other Venice Film Festival October 16th in Venice California!

Film Maker Matthew Furey’s, Red Poet. paints a soulful picture of San Francisco’s own Jack Hirschman and brings to the silver screen the singular life of this troubadour for \modern times.  A modest Bronx childhood first gives way to a shooting star career in academia. Controversial teaching stints at Dartmouth and UCLA make him anathema to the academy; he is fired for his opposition to the Vietnam War.  Soon Hirschman finds himself penniless and homeless on the streets of San Francisco. Through it all, Hirschman perseveres, continues to write his poems and publishes 45 books of poetry.  In 2006, the Mayor of San Francisco appoints him Poet Laureate.

Red Poet recounts a tale of a life lived on its own terms: against all odds, a unique poetic talent finds personal redemption through his art and his poetry. 

“Jack Hirschman is the greatest unknown poet in America!  He’s doing it on all fronts!  It’s a great film about him and the North Beach scene as well,”  David Meltzer, Poet and Author, Beat Thing.

“Whether you know Jack Hirschman as the last Beat, US Mensch #1, or the most unflagging political poet on the planet . . .after seeing Red Poet, you will have a new friend and just possibly a renewed belief that maybe the species homo sapiens ain’t so bad after all!”-  Bob Holman, Producer, award winning PBS series, The United States of Poetry

"A beautiful film. . .Film maker Matthew Furey captures the essence of a progressive American poetic tradition which dates back to Walt Whitman and Woody Guthrie and risks being lost. Jack Hirschman. . .keeps this tradition alive.
Lucilla Chiodi, Cinema Italiano