Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas was born in 1922 in the farming village of Semeniškiai, Lithuania. In 1944, he and his brother Adolfas were taken by the Nazis to a forced labor camp in Elmshorn, Germany. After the War he studied philosophy at the University of Mainz. At the end of 1949 the UN Refugee Organization brought both brothers to New York City, where they settled down in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Two months after his arrival in New York he borrowed money to buy his first Bolex camera and began to record brief moments of his life. He soon got deeply involved in the American Avant-Garde film movement. In 1954, together with his brother, he started Film Culture magazine, which soon became the most important film publication in the US. In 1958 he began his legendary Movie Journal column in the Village Voice. In 1962 he founded the Film-Makers' Cooperative, and in 1964 the Film-Makers' Cinematheque, which eventually grew into Anthology Film Archives, one of the world's largest and most important repositories of avant-garde cinema, and a screening venue. During all this time he continued writing poetry and making films. To this date he has published more than 20 books of prose and poetry, which have been translated into over a dozen languages. His Lithuanian poetry is now part of Lithuanian classic literature and his films can be found in leading museums around the world. He is largely credited for developing the diaristic forms of cinema. Mekas has also been active as an academic, teaching at the New School for Social Research, the International Center for Photography, Cooper Union, New York University, and MIT. Mekas' film The Brig was awarded the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1963. Other films include Walden (1969), Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972), Lost Lost Lost (1975), Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol (1990), Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (1992), As I was Moving Ahead I saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), Letter from Greenpoint (2005), Sleepless Nights Stories (2011) and Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man. In 2007, he completed a series of 365 short films released on the internet -- one film every day -- and since then has continued to share new work on his website. Since 2000, Mekas has expanded his work into the area of film installations, exhibiting at the Serpentine Gallery, the Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Moderna Museet (Stockholm), PS1 Contemporary Art Center MoMA, Documenta of Kassel, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Venice Biennale.
The Velvet Underground
as SelfExperience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story....
Movie pageORG
as Self (archive footage)Explores the complex relationship between the spirit, body, and mind. The film is a nightmare...
Movie pageAs I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
as Self / NarratorA compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American...
Movie pageSuperstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
as SelfIconic American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol is the subject of this documentary, which looks...
Movie pageImagine
as SelfA surreal, half-fiction, half real life footage of a day in the life of John lennon and Yoko...
Movie pageAndy Warhol Screen Tests
as SelfThe films were made between 1964 and 1966 at Warhol's Factory studio in New York City. Subjects...
Movie pageRiver of Fundament
as Wake GuestVisionary artist Matthew Barney returns to cinema with this 3-part epic, a radical reinvention...
Movie pageGalaxie
as HimselfIn March and April of 1966, Markopoulos created this filmic portrait of writers and artists from...
Movie pageEmpire
as Self (uncredited)A single static wide shot of the Empire State Building from early evening until nearly 3 am the...
Movie pageWhat Is Cinema?
as SelfUsing the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock...
Movie pageNam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
as Self (archive footage)The quixotic journey of Nam June Paik, one of the most famous Asian artists of the 20th century,...
Movie pageIt Came from Kuchar
as Self (archive footage)It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground...
Movie pageNotes on an American Film Director at Work
as SelfFilmmaker Jonas Mekas follows his friend, film director Martin Scorsese, and his cast and crew,...
Movie pageNico Icon
as HimselfA look into the many lives of Christa Päffgen, otherwise known as Nico; from cutie German...
Movie pageGeorge: The Story of George Maciunas and Fluxus
as SelfIn 1961 Lithuanian American artist and impresario George Maciunas established the avant-garde...
Movie pageReminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
as SelfA 1971–72 documentary film by Jonas Mekas. It revolves around Mekas' trip back to Semeniškiai,...
Movie pageDiaries, Notes, and Sketches
as SelfAn epic portrait of the New York avant-garde art scene of the 60s.
Movie pageJ. Mekas
as SelfIn 1977, Robertas Verba followed Jonas Mekas in Lithuania, his second trip there after he left...
Movie pageExcavating Taylor Mead
as HimselfThe film icon/Andy Warhol darling is interviewed is his legendary cluttered apartment.
Movie pageGuest
as SelfFilmmaker José Luis Guerin documents his experience during a year of traveling as a guest of...
Movie pageLost, Lost, Lost
as SelfJonas Mekas adjusts to a life in exile in New York in his autobiographical film, shot between...
Movie pageFilm: The Living Record of Our Memory
as SelfWhy are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter...
Movie pageAward
as HimselfA behind-the-scenes look at the man behind the trophy and the poisons that taint an otherwise...
Movie pageJack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
as SelfIn this entrancing documentary on performance artist, photographer and underground filmmaker...
Movie pageStrong Medicine
as uncreditedAdaptation of an avant-garde play about Rhoda, a hysterical heroine who feels oppressed by the...
Movie pageAndy Warhol's Factory People... Inside the Sixties Silver Factory
as uncreditedTakes an in-depth look at the lives and times of the people who hung out with Andy Warhol and...
Movie pageFragments of Paradise
as Self (archive footage)For over 70 years, Jonas Mekas, internationally known as the "godfather" of avant-garde cinema,...
Movie pageVertigo
as uncreditedGozo Yoshimasu, a pioneer of Japanese contemporary poetry, pursued the vision of his ally, the...
Movie pageHe Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
as SelfA film collage tracing the story of the lives, loves, and deaths within the artistic community...
Movie pageTapes
as uncreditedThe tapes in the program consist of some of Mekas’ earliest cassettes from the 1990s not long...
Movie pageTiny Tim: King for a Day
as HimselfThe story of Tiny Tim’s improbable rise to stardom is the ultimate fairytale - and so is that of...
Movie pageAnger Me
as HimselfElio Gelmini interviews Avantgarde filmmaker Kenneth Anger. With archive footage of Angers...
Movie pageThe Signing
as uncreditedMM Serra and Jonas Mekas sign a paper in 3D.
Movie pageJonas in the Desert
as SelfNot a documentary in the strictest sense of the word. Rather, it is a journey through the world...
Movie pageA Day in the Life of Andy Warhol
as SelfStephen Smith sets out to discover the real Andy Warhol - in the hour-by-hour detail of his...
Movie pageGoing Home
as HimselfA home movie by Adolfas Mekas and wife Pola Chapelle on their travels to Lithuania and Europe....
Movie pageDoc
as HimselfThe amazing adventures of forgotten American novelist and Paris Review founder, Harold Louis...
Movie pageGena Rowlands: A Life on Film
as SelfAn intimate portrait of the superb actress Gena Rowlands, icon of independent cinema. Together...
Movie pageInvocation: Maya Deren
as HimselfMaya Deren is a legend of avant-garde cinema. This authoritative biography of the charismatic...
Movie pageWho Gets to Call It Art?
as HimselfMetropolitan Museum of Art curator Henry Geldzahler reflects on the 1960s pop art scene in New York.
Movie pageBarbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
as uncreditedThe 29-minute experimental film Christmas on Earth caused a sensation when it first screened in...
Movie pageThe Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man
as uncredited“New York plays itself, as Taylor Mead and Winifred Bryan regale in pas de deux among the...
Movie pageMy Conversations on Film
as HimselfThis distinctly personal journey into the artistic possibilities of independent film is not to...
Movie page3.11 A Sense of Home
as Himself (voice) (segment "Mt. Ventoux")In memory of the Japanese earthquake on 3.11, each director presents a 3 minute and 11 second...
Movie pageIn the Mirror of Maya Deren
as HimselfDocumentary about the life of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, who led the independent film...
Movie pagePoem Posters
as Self... with real-life portraits of Jayne Mansfield, Frak O'Hara, Ruth Ford, Ned Rorem, Virgil...
Movie pageI Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
as SelfIn his latest film, Mekas shares what he describes as “a valentine to Yoko Ono,” done in his...
Movie pageBeyond the Bolex
as SelfFilmmaker Alyssa Bolsey stumbles on a treasure trove of vintage cameras, old film reels, fading...
Movie pageLavender
as SelfA wholesome moment: Jonas Mekas, MM Serra, Ken Jacobs, and Flo Jacobs take lavender from a...
Movie pageThe Definition of Insanity
as uncreditedCo-director Robert Margolis stars as Robert, an actor who may or may not be himself in this...
Movie pageScenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
as HimselfThis is a video record of the Buddhist Wake ceremony at Allen Ginsberg's apartment. You see...
Movie pageDay Nine
as HimselfThe film documents an encounter at 202 Blvd Saint-Germain, in a cafe underneath Apollinaire's...
Movie pageFree Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
as HimselfExperimental filmmaker Pip Chodorov traces the course of experimental film in America, taking...
Movie pageScreen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas
as himselfScreen test for Andy Warhol, 1966
Movie pageReminiscences of Jonas Mekas
as SelfA “Cinéma, de notre temps” series episode directed by french filmmaker Jackie Raynal, originally...
Movie pageSelf Discovery for Social Survival
as Narrator (voice)Self Discovery for Social Survival is a collaborative surf and music film produced by Brooklyn...
Movie pageStep Across the Border
as Butterfly WingAn avant-garde documentary film on English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith.
Movie pageNew York Conversations
as uncreditedNew York Conversations is a documentary made of varied conversations revolving around cinema in...
Movie pageCinema and Sanctuary
as SelfThe astonishing story of the first documentary film school in the USA—The Institute of Film...
Movie page‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen
as uncreditedVarious unrelated vignettes, often juxtaposing sound and image.
Movie pageSong of Avignon
as SelfReflections on my 1966 trip to Avignon that helped me to survive a deep crisis I was going...
Movie pageSalvador Dalí at Work
as HimselfFilmmaker Jonas Mekas follows the surrealist artist around the streets of New York documenting...
Movie pageOut-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
as Jonas Mekas"A motion picture composed of brief diaristic scenes not used in completed films from the years...
Movie pageFire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
as HimselfPresents an intimate view of four decades of the Swiss-born artist Robert Frank who has had an...
Movie pageNotes for a Déjà vu
as uncreditedThe immediately recognisable voice and sweet wistful words of the late legend of the avantgarde,...
Movie pageSebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
as uncredited"My last image of Jonas."—Ken Jacobs
Movie pageNotes for Jerome
as SelfDuring the summer of 1966 Jonas Mekas spent two months in Cassis, as a guest of Jerome Hill....
Movie pageA Poet from the Lower East Side
as HimselfFilmmaker Gyula Gazdag's fascinating documentary follows Hungarian poet, playwright and activist...
Movie page365 Day Project
as HimselfThis exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in...
Movie pageRe: Maciunas and Fluxus
as uncredited“Drawing on his personal archives, Mekas has assembled a Fluxus vaudeville starring Yoko Ono,...
Movie pageOcchio privato sul nuovo mondo
as uncreditedA film by Alfredo Leonardi.
Movie pageJourney to Lithuania
as HimselfDuring the trip back to Lithuania, Jonas Mekas made Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania,...
Movie pageJonas Mekas, Friday 13th October
as HimselfJonas, Birgit and Anja are leaving for the Brooklyn Bridge. By taxi, buying beer, drinking in...
Movie pageBack from New York
as HimselfTwo artists, whose work was constrained during the Soviet era, fled to New York. There, they met...
Movie pageWarhol's Cinema 1963-1968: Mirror for the Sixties
as HimselfDocumentary on Andy Warhol's cinema of the sixties, made for Channel 4 in association with The...
Movie pageHome Movies 1971-81
as uncreditedHome movies shot on Super 8mm by W+B Hein over 10 years.
Movie pageMichael Snow Up Close
as HimselfMICHAEL SNOW UP CLOSE was produced on the occasion of The Michael Snow Project, a major,...
Movie pageFilmmakers
as HimselfIimura creates a short self-portrait as well as brief portraits of five of his peers: Brakhage,...
Movie pageReminiscences from Germany
as HimselfA narrative presented non-chronologically of Jonas Mekas's time in German forced labour camps...
Movie pageTO NEW YORK WITH LOVE - A Letter to Penny Arcade June 25, 2001
as uncreditedI made this video June 23, 2001, as a letter for my good friend Penny Arcade who some days...
Movie pageQuestion a Day
as uncreditedIn 2008, Andrew Lampert, employed as the film archivist of Anthology Film Archives, endeavored...
Movie pageAxiom of Choice
as uncreditedEvoking the physiognomy of a Rembrandt portrait, Axiom of Choice depicts Jonas Mekas and his son...
Movie pageSalvador Dali, Happenings
as uncreditedIn 1963-64 Salvador Dali did a series of "Happenings" events in a New York. In all cases Peter...
Movie pageJonas Keeps Shooting Around
as HimselfA short portrait of Jonas Mekas on the occasion of his 2002 retrospective in Paris (for his 80th...
Movie pageKeep singing: a tribute to Jonas Mekas
as uncreditedA film tribute to the inspirational Jonas Mekas.
Movie pageI Had Nowhere to Go
as HimselfI Had Nowhere To Go is based on Jonas Mekas’s diary. It’s been over 70 years since he left his...
Movie pageThe Song of Avila
as NarratorIn 1966 I came up upon a book of Meher Baba, the Indian guru/scientist, in which he said that...
Movie pageJonas in the Brig
as HimselfA newsreel of Jonas Mekas shooting his filmed version of The Brig on the set of the Living...
Movie pageUnderground New York
as HimselfA rare behind-the-scenes view of the exploding New York “underground” in the late sixities, a...
Movie pageMeet The Kuchar Brothers
as uncreditedProvides a rare glimpse into the world of George and Mike Kuchar, underground filmmaking...
Movie pageCinema Is Not 100 Years Old
as HimselfThe real history of the cinema is the invisible history – history of friends getting together...
Movie pageA Matter of Baobab
as uncreditedInternational Cast of Actors: Jonas Mekas, from Lithuania, poet and film-maker; Louis Brigante,...
Movie pageMakeshift (for Mekas)
as uncreditedJem Cohen's memory-tribute to Jonas Mekas displaces its first-person narration from voice-over...
Movie pageJonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
as HimselfUsing his trademark flicker method, Ken Jacobs pays homage to the oldest type of color film,...
Movie pageThe Song of Central Park
as Himself (voice)During the course of a single winter’s day, January 16, 1966, Jonas Mekas captured...
Movie pageCinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
as HimselfA series of video letters between José Luis Guerín and Jonas Mekas.
Movie pagePostcard from America
as uncreditedAfter the author’s period of experimentation, these American notes are extremely...
Movie pageElegy for J.M.
as uncreditedCreated by Anthology’s Archivist John Klacsmann, the visual track of Elegy for J.M. is the...
Movie pagePersistence of Vision
as HimselfA short documentary profile of the Anthology Film Archives, shot on the eve of the move to the...
Movie pageAll About Bolex
as uncredited"I developed a need to try to retain everything I was passing through, by means of my Bolex camera."
Movie pageA Report from Venice
as uncreditedOpening of the Internet Saga Pavilion. At Palazzo Foscari Contarini, Venice. May 6 and 7, 2015.
Movie pageJonas Mekas Anthology
as Jonas MekasA portrait movie of the Godfather of American avantgarde cinema. Through material filmed...
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