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.
My Country is Cinema
(Self)
Last Interview Film of Jonas Mekas/version 1
(Self)
The Velvet Underground
(Self)
Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
(Self)
Notes for a Déjà vu
Cinema and Sanctuary
(Self)
Strong Medicine
Persistence of Vision
(Himself)
All About Bolex
A Report from Venice
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
(Self (archive footage))
Back from New York
(Himself)
Michael Snow Up Close
(Himself)
The Signing
Anger Me
(Himself)
Lavender
(Self)
My Birthday
Home Movies 1971-81
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
(Self / Narrator)
Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
(Jonas Mekas)
A Poet from the Lower East Side
(Himself)
Belladonna
Jonas Keeps Shooting Around
(Himself)
River of Fundament
(Wake Guest)
Vertigo
Galaxie
(Himself)
Interview and Reading: Jonas Mekas
(Himself)
Jonas Mekas Anthology
(Jonas Mekas)
Fragments of Paradise
(Self (archive footage))
Notes for Jerome
(Self)
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
The Lamb
(Self)
J. Mekas
(Self)
Occhio privato sul nuovo mondo
Guest
(Self)
Viva Jonas!
(Himself)
Doc
(Himself)
Just Visiting This Planet
Jonas
(Himself)
Maya Deren, Take Zero
(Himself)
The Perfect Team: The Making of 'On the Bowery'
(Self)
Four Shadows
Diane the Zebra Woman
On the Holy Spirit
I Had Nowhere to Go
(Himself)
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
(Himself)
Reminiscences from Germany
(Himself)
The Song of Avila
(Narrator)
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
(Self (archive footage))
Step Across the Border
(Butterfly Wing)
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
(Himself)
The Definition of Insanity
I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
(Self)
The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man
The Love Merchant
(Lounge Patron)
Going Home
(Himself)
Notes on Marie Menken
(Himself)
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
(Self)
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
(Self)
Salvador Dalí at Work
(Self)
No. 18: Mahagonny
Jonas in the Brig
(Himself)
Underground New York
(Himself)
ORG
(Self (archive footage))
Self-Portrait
(Himself)
Day Nine
(Himself)
My Conversations on Film
(Himself)
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
Jonas in the Desert
(Self)
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
(Himself)
‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen
Filmmakers
(Himself)
Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
(Himself)
Journey to Lithuania
(Himself)
Laboratorium Anthology
(Himself)
Invocation: Maya Deren
(Himself)
It Came from Kuchar
(Self (archive footage))
Visionaries
(Himself)
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
(Himself)
New York Conversations
George: The Story of George Maciunas and Fluxus
(Self)
Warhol's Cinema 1963-1968: Mirror for the Sixties
(Self)
What Is Cinema?
(Self)
Question a Day
Letter to John from Jonas
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
(Himself)
Portrait Serie - Jonas Mekas
(himself)
Keep singing: a tribute to Jonas Mekas
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
Poem Posters
(Self)
Excavating Taylor Mead
(Self)
A Letter from Greenpoint
(Mekas)
Makeshift (for Mekas)
A Matter of Baobab
TO NEW YORK WITH LOVE - A Letter to Penny Arcade June 25, 2001
Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
(Self)
Self Discovery for Social Survival
(Narrator (voice))
Nitsch
Dirt
A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol
(Self)
Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
(Himself)
Award
(Himself)
Andy Warhol Screen Tests
(Self)
Nico Icon
(Himself)
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
(Self)
Who Gets to Call It Art?
(Self)
Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
My Mars Bar Movie
(himself)
Imagine
(Self)
Cinématon
(N°1590)
Andy Warhol's Factory People... Inside the Sixties Silver Factory
Paradise Not Yet Lost
(Himself)
Beyond the Bolex
(Self)
365 Day Project
(Himself)
Empire
(Self (uncredited))
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
(Self)
Lost, Lost, Lost
(Self)
Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
Quartet Number One
Song of Avignon
(Self)
Jonas Mekas, Friday 13th October
(Himself)
Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas
(himself)
Not in Our Name
(himself)
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
(Self)
The Song of Central Park
(Himself (voice))
Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
(Himself)
Tapes
Postcard from America
3.11 A Sense of Home
(Himself (voice) (segment "Mt. Ventoux"))
3 Friends Singing (...in the Desert)
Elegy for J.M.
Axiom of Choice
Jonas Towards Broadway
Reminiscences of Jonas Mekas
(Self)
Tiny Tim: King for a Day
(Himself)
Cinématon n°1590 : Jonas Mekas
Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
(Himself)
Salvador Dali, Happenings
EXPRMNTL
(himself)
The Sin of Jesus
The Invisible Father
(Self (archive footage))
Kulturplatz
(Self)
365 Day Project March 16
(Director)
Cassis
(Director of Photography)
Cassis
(Editor)
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
(Director)
My Birthday
(Director)
Destruction of the Berlin Wall
(Director)
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
(Director)
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
(Director)
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
(Director)
Lost, Lost, Lost
(Director)
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
(Director)
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
(Director)
WTC Haikus
(Director)
Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
(Director)
Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
(Director)
Guns of the Trees
(Director)
Guns of the Trees
(Writer)
The Brig
(Director)
Senseless
(Writer)
Cassis
(Director)
Notes on the Circus
(Director)
Sleepless Nights Stories
(Director)
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships & Intersections
(Director)
This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
(Director)
Happy Birthday to John
(Director)
Silence, Please
(Director)
Silence, Please
(Cinematography)
My Bolexes
(Director)
My Bolexes
(Cinematography)
Autobiography of a Man Who Carried his Memory in his Eyes
(Director)
Velvet Underground's First Public Appearance
(Director)
Salvador Dali, Happenings
(Director)
Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR
(Director)
The Sixties Quartet
(Director)
Paradise Not Yet Lost
(Director)
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
(Director)
Three Friends
(Director)
Report from Millbrook
(Director)
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
(Director)
Hare Krishna
(Director)
To Barbara Rubin with Love
(Director)
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
(Director)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(Director)
Dedication to Matsuo Basho
(Director)
Travel Songs
(Director)
Quartet Number One
(Director)
Time & Fortune Vietnam Newsreel
(Director)
In Between
(Director)
Notes for Jerome
(Director)
Imperfect Three-Image Films
(Director)
Song of Avignon
(Director)
A Visit to Timothy Leary
(Director)
John & Yoko Bed-In
(Director)
This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
(Editor)
This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
(Producer)
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
(Writer)
Notes for Jerome
(Cinematography)
A Letter from Greenpoint
(Director)
Carl G. Jung by Jerome Hill or Lapis Philosophorum
(Director)
Day Nine
(Director)
Celebrate Cinema 101
(Director)
Bibi Hansen
(Director)
All About Bolex
(Director)
A Report from Venice
(Director)
All About Bolex
(Camera Operator)
First Class Flight
(Director)
Carl Dreyer
(Director)
Monday Jan. 1, 2007
(Director)
Scenes from the Life of Raimund Abraham
(Director)
Thursday Jan. 4, 2007: Pedro (São Paulo) or The Right Way To Make Capirinha
(Director)
A Walk
(Director)
A Walk
(Camera Operator)
3.11 A Sense of Home
(Director)
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
(Director)
Self-Portrait
(Director)
Reminiscences from Germany
(Director)
Nam June Paik's Piano Piece
(Director)
Poets at the Living Theater
(Director)
Bed-In: John Lennon & Yoko Ono
(Director)
Patti Smith at Anthology Film Archives Febr. 19, 1998
(Director)
Andy at Work
(Director)
Warhol and Maciunas
(Director)
Birth of a Nation
(Director)
Cup/Saucer/Two Dancers/Radio
(Director)
Film Magazine of the Arts
(Director)
Robert Frank Films
(Director)
20 Little Films
(Director)
The Italian Notebook
(Director)
The Song of Moscow
(Director)
The Song of Avila
(Director)
Street Songs
(Director)
Mob of Angels: Baptism
(Director)
Salvador Dalí at Work
(Director)
Time & Fortune Vietnam Newsreel
(Cinematography)
Notes on the Circus
(Cinematography)
Notes on the Circus
(Editor)
Birth of a Nation
(Writer)
Birth of a Nation
(Editor)
Birth of a Nation
(Cinematography)
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
(Editor)
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
(Cinematography)
Robert Haller's Wedding
(Director)
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
(Cinematography)
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
(Editor)
Song of Avignon
(Writer)
I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
(Director)
Hallelujah the Hills
(Assistant Director)
The Brig
(Cinematography)
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
(Cinematography)
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
(Editor)
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
(Editor)
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
(Writer)
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
(Writer)
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
(Cinematography)
Lost, Lost, Lost
(Writer)
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
(Cinematography)
Lost, Lost, Lost
(Cinematography)
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
(Writer)
Guns of the Trees
(Editor)
Lost, Lost, Lost
(Editor)
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
(Editor)
Guns of the Trees
(Cinematography)
Salvador Dalí at Work
(Writer)
Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
(Director)
Erick Hawkins: Excerpts from "Here and Now with Watchers"
(Director)
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten
(Director)
The Song of Italy
(Director)
The Song of Stockholm
(Director)
The Song of Assisi
(Director)
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships & Intersections
(Cinematography)
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships & Intersections
(Editor)
Cinematheque Française
(Director)
For Life, Against the War
(Director)
42 One Dream Rush
(Director)
Carl G. Jung by Jerome Hill or Lapis Philosophorum
(Editor)
Laboratorium Anthology
(Director)
Lavender
(Director of Photography)
Lavender
(Director)
On the Holy Spirit
(Director)
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
(Cinematography)
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
(Writer)
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
(Director)
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
(Editor)
365 Day Project
(Director)
The Velvet Underground: Psychiatrist's Convention, NYC, 1966
(Camera Operator)
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
(Editor)
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
(Director of Photography)
I Leave Chelsea Hotel
(Director)
When
(Director)
WTC Haikus
(Editor)
WTC Haikus
(Director of Photography)
WTC Haikus
(Producer)
Letter to John from Jonas
(Director)
From the Notebooks of a Cinema Maniac
(Director)
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
(Director)
The Destruction Quartet
(Director)
Film Magazine of the Arts
(Cinematography)
Film Magazine of the Arts
(Editor)
Peter Kubelka at the Library of Congress
(Director)
A Letter from Greenpoint
(Writer)
A Letter from Greenpoint
(Creator)
This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
(Writer)
TO NEW YORK WITH LOVE - A Letter to Penny Arcade June 25, 2001
(Director)
Marcel Hanoun wedding
(Director)
A Visit To Hans Richter
(Editor)
Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch
(Director)
Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch
(Editor)
A Visit To Hans Richter
(Director)
Monks of Cinema
(Director)
Halloween 1990
(Director)
Notes on Utopia
(Director)
On My Way to Fujiyama I met..
(Director of Photography)
Requiem
(Director)
The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained
(Director)
On My Way to Fujiyama I met..
(Director)
Mt. Ventoux
(Director)
My Mars Bar Movie
(Director)
Self Discovery for Social Survival
(Writer)
From the diaries of a cinema maniac
(Director)
Memories of Frankenstein
(Director)
Yoko Ono Lennon's Courage Awards 2016: Laurie Anderson, Mohammad el Gharani, Eileen Boxer, RoseLee Goldberg, LoftOpera
(Director)
Empire
(Cinematography)
Keep Singing
(Director)
Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
(Director)
Salvador Dalí at Work
(Cinematography)
My Paris Movie
(Director)
Orchard Street
(Director)
A Few Notes on Andy's Factory
(Director)
Song of The Salamander
(Director)
Dalí Oster Newsreel
(Director)
Mysteries
(Director)
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
(Director of Photography)
European Diaries
(Sound Designer)
Happy Easter Ride
(Director)
Letters from Nowhere
(Writer)
Letters from Nowhere
(Director)
Letters from Nowhere
(Editor)
The Song of Central Park
(Director)
Tapes
(Director)
Elvis
(Director)
Wien & Mozart
(Director)
Elvis Live at Madison Square Garden
(Director)
Elvis Live at Madison Square Garden
(Camera Operator)
Elvis Live at Madison Square Garden
(Writer)