An Edgar A. Guest Poetic Gem featuring the song Down the Lane to Yesterday with a vocal by Al Shayne.
Social & External
The people behind it
Al Shayne
Vocalist
Norman Brokenshire
Narrator
Inspired by the poetry of Robert Frost, this short primarily aims to capture the dynamic nature of the world around us; the ego and the id; the past and the present; everything that has, as of yet, diluted the course of life as we know it.
The story of Ana and Diego, a couple who decide to go live on the coast in Chile. There, they meet Vicente, with whom Diego secretly begins a relationship. Ana, for her part, must decide if she wants to open up to a relationship that deconstructs the traditional ways of relating affectively.
A solitary Frenchman seeks inspiration in a ruined duchy, meeting eccentric figures with their visions of art, madness, and myth. During 15 minutes he wanders across the broken edges of reality and sanity, he questions what form inspiration can still take among fragments of ruins and environment, as the viewer steps into his eyes and ears, discovering beauty within decay.
Trapped in routine, a Jeju poet finds himself drawn to a boy—and to emotions he’s never dared name.
A popular high school girl is harassed by a delinquent boy until they are placed in creative writing class together. Through written words, they create a bond, but tragically a bond that cannot withstand her social pressures or his brutal home life.
A monumental traffic jam serves as the backdrop for the lives of the inhabitants of a Swedish city.
A 1-hour Documentary looking at the Manchester post-punk group and its infamous leader Mark E Smith. The Film follows the current band recording their final Session for the John Peel Show (they were his favourite group and recorded more sessions than any other band) as well as chronicling the chaotic history of the band & its numerous line-up changes.
Song is a story of the last Finnish rune singer and his pupil, and the comforting power of singing.
Seeking US citizenship, a Viennese refugee arranges a marriage of convenience with a struggling writer.
In a lost corner of the world, just another village isolated from all the recurring rumors of any era. The trees take over leaving the loneliness evidenced as the darkness likes and appreciates.
During a lonely night, Julia recites a poem about loss, reunion and overcoming.
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.
A poet's muse calls on his inner child to save their relationship.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous American authors. And probably the most abysmal. In his texts, he deals with the dark side of humanity like no other. And was himself scarred by this throughout his life. The writer not only shaped the genres of horror literature and science fiction novels, but today seems more popular than ever.
‘Death Sounds a Quiet Gong’ was originally screened at Village Works (12 St. Marks Place, New York City, NY) on October 24, 2025. The poem was first published in the inaugural release of biannual literary journal the Tough Poets Review.
Based on the Edgar A. Guest poem of the same name, this is photographic ode to the American South, featuring representative scenery. Mendelsohn's "Spring Song" is the musical theme throughout, and Al Shayne sings an original song based on Guest's poem.
Another entry in the Edgar A. Guest's Poetic Gems Series.
A poetic Gem from Edgar A. Guest. This film features Al Shayne singing A Real True Pal by Frank Loesser and Lou Herscher.
A week in the life of Paterson, a poet bus driver, and his wife Laura, a very creative artist, who live in Paterson, New Jersey, hometown of many famous poets and artists.
After winning $6.2 million in the 1976 New York State Lottery, he is arrested for throwing rocks at a church. He then tells his story at the police station.
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
Megan Quinn, an aspiring architect, faces multiple tasks – developing her hometown lake into a commercialized entertainment center, forcing Mrs. Frances Figgins, her childhood mentor, out of her family’s home, and helping out at her family café after her father breaks his leg, all while also dealing with the return of her childhood sweetheart, Joe, who broke her heart.
When the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his flirtatious wife Caitlin sweep into war-torn London, the last thing they expect is to bump into Dylan's childhood sweetheart Vera. Despite her joy at seeing Dylan after so many years, Vera is swept off her feet by a dashing officer, William Killick, and finds herself torn between the open adoration of her new found beau and the wily charms of the exotic Welshman.
In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an attempt to run Maestro out of town.
Pacer Burton, a young man of mixed Kiowa and white heritage, is caught between two worlds as conflict erupts between Native Americans and white settlers in Texas.
In the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and the greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of fame, fortune and popularity, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.
A recently single Jessica sends Christmas cards to people who have impacted her life—the aunt who raised her, her younger brother in the military, a popstar who was part of the soundtrack of her life, the music teacher who inspired her, and the best friend who always tells the truth.
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and other rock legends.
Unable to conceive, a couple seeks to build a family with a young orphan, survivor of tragic childhood. But their act of love turns to horror when they realize the violence in their foster's past has returned to destroy the new family.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Proud father Stanley Banks remembers the day his daughter, Kay, got married. Starting when she announces her engagement through to the wedding itself, we learn of all the surprises and disasters along the way.
An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.
Wendy Walton is the best designer in Boston... but no one knows it yet. Hoping to kick-start her career, Wendy has left work with the local theatre to take a job as an assistant to Priscilla Hall, the most prestigious designer in the city. Ms. Hall works Wendy around the clock, which is how Wendy finds herself trapped in an elevator late one night with an incredibly handsome stranger. Wendy and the mystery man share an impulsive, romantic, life changing kiss before the doors open and Wendy runs out, leaving him behind. The next day at work, Wendy answers the door to find the handsome gentleman standing in front of her.
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
