diff --git a/movmaker.py b/movmaker.py
index 347f082..ee65fc8 100755
--- a/movmaker.py
+++ b/movmaker.py
@@ -523,9 +523,13 @@ def parse_data_file(path: Path | None) -> MovieData:
         return MovieData(captions={})
 
     data = MovieData(captions={})
-    for line_no, raw in enumerate(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace").splitlines(), start=1):
-        line = raw.strip()
+    lines = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace").splitlines()
+    i = 0
+    while i < len(lines):
+        line_no = i + 1
+        line = lines[i].strip()
         if not line or line.startswith("#"):
+            i += 1
             continue
         if ":" not in line:
             raise SystemExit(f"Invalid data file syntax in {path} line {line_no}: every entry must be key: value")
@@ -533,6 +537,21 @@ def parse_data_file(path: Path | None) -> MovieData:
         key = key.strip()
         value = value.strip()
         low = key.lower()
+        if value == "|" and low in {"description", "desc", "synopsis"}:
+            block: list[str] = []
+            i += 1
+            while i < len(lines):
+                raw = lines[i]
+                if raw.strip() and not raw.startswith((" ", "\t")):
+                    break
+                if raw.startswith("  "):
+                    raw = raw[2:]
+                elif raw.startswith((" ", "\t")):
+                    raw = raw[1:]
+                block.append(raw.rstrip())
+                i += 1
+            data.description = "\n".join(block).strip()
+            continue
         if low in {"title", "name"}:
             data.title = value
         elif low in {"date", "dates", "when"}:
@@ -543,6 +562,7 @@ def parse_data_file(path: Path | None) -> MovieData:
             data.description = value
         elif key:
             data.captions[key] = value
+        i += 1
 
     return data