Providence, RI--Two poems written by Chard deNiord, Providence College associate professor of English, are included in a film currently being aired by cable television providers throughout the country.

Locally, the Cox Communications and Comcast cable systems are airing Beautiful Ohio, an independent film starring William Hurt, Rita Wilson, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Julianna Margulies.

Beautiful Ohio, which was produced by two-time Academy Award winner Hillary Swank and former professional basketball star Reggie Miller, among others, is billed as a "coming of age" movie based on the short story Batorsag and Szerelem, which is Hungarian for "love and courage." 

The film, which won the 2007 Saratoga (Fla.) Film Festival and has appeared in several other market areas, was directed by Chad Lowe, brother of actor Rob Lowe. It is about an Ohio boy who lives in the shadow of a brilliant older brother, a math prodigy, yet senses that some terrible fate is in store for his brother.

The author of the story, Ethan Canin, also wrote the screenplay for the movie and is a longtime friend of deNiord, who has taught at PC since 1998. Initially, deNiord's poems weren't intended to be included in the film.

Originally, the closing, climactic scene in which they do appear, was supposed to include the work of Pablo Neruda, whose real name was Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Neruda is one of the most famous poets and authors of the past century and earned the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971.

However, producers were unable to gain the rights to Neruda's poems, and the filmmakers asked deNiord if he could help. Two of his poems, "The Thin Path" from Asleep in the Fire (University of Alabama Press, 1990) and "Sharp Golden Thorn" from Sharp Golden Thorn (Marsh Hawk Press, 2003), were chosen and melded into one by deNiord. It now concludes the film.

"It was fun to be part of the process and see how it works," deNiord said of his time on the set in a high school on Long Island. "I'm just happy that they were able to find my poems useful. I'm more than honored to play second fiddle to Neruda."

Beautiful Ohio can be seen locally by using a new Independent Film Channel (IFC) video-on-demand program called "Festival Direct." Under the IFC banner, "Festival Direct" will initially offer five films from which to choose. Each film will be available for purchase for one or two months prior to release on DVD. Some 30 million households will be able to view the films through the five participating cable systems.

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