Jonas Mekas

Directing·Dec 24, 1922·Semeniškiai, Lithuania

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Jonas Mekas (24-12-1922 - 23-1-2019) was born 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.

Film	Credit
Tapes2020 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
Requiem2019 · Director	Director
FFrom the Notebooks of a Cinema Maniac2017 · Director	Director
I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance2017 · Director	Director
From the diaries of a cinema maniac2017 · Director	Director
CCrickets2017 · Director	Director
On the Holy Spirit2016 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
Yoko Ono Lennon's Courage Awards 2016: Laurie Anderson, Mohammad el Gharani, Eileen Boxer, RoseLee Goldberg, LoftOpera2016 · Director	Director
Últimas correspondencias2016 · Director	Director
A Report from Venice2015 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
Scenes from the Life of Raimund Abraham2015 · Director	Director
All About Bolex2015 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
My Bolexes2015 · Director	Director
New Seasons Movement IV2015 · Director	Director
My Birthday2014 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
Destruction of the Berlin Wall2014 · Director	Director
Halloween 19902014 · Director	Director
AA Cardinal2014 · Director	Director
FFlowers2014 · Director	Director
I Leave Chelsea Hotel2013 · Director	Director
The Sixties Quartet2013 · Director	Director
Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man2012 · Jonas Mekas, Director	Jonas Mekas, Director
HHappy Easter Ride2012 · Director	Director
20 Little Films2012 · Director	Director
Reminiscences from Germany2012 · Director	Director
MMt. Ventoux2011 · Director	Director
My Paris Movie2011 · Director	Director
Sleepless Nights Stories2011 · Director	Director
My Mars Bar Movie2011 · Director	Director
3.11 A Sense of Home Films2011 · Director	Director
Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin2011 · Director	Director
Re: Maciunas and Fluxus2011 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
FFirst Class Flight2011 · Director	Director
Keep Singing2011 · Director	Director
OOrchard Street2010 · Director	Director
42 One Dream Rush2010 · Director	Director
Lavender2010 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
WTC Haikus2010 · Director, Producer, Director of Photography	Director, Producer, Director of Photography
LLithuania and the Collapse of the USSR2009 · Director	Director
Notes on an American Film Director at Work2008 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
365 Day Project2007 · Director	Director
Sunday December 30, 20072007 · Director	Director
Friday May 4, 2007: John Zorn – Cobra Part Two2007 · Director	Director
Monday April 16, 20072007 · Director	Director
Friday March 16, 20072007 · Director	Director
Tuesday Jan. 9, 20072007 · Director	Director
SSaturday Jan. 62007 · Director	Director
Thursday Jan. 4, 2007: Pedro (São Paulo) or The Right Way To Make Capirinha2007 · Director	Director
Monday Jan. 1, 20072007 · Director	Director
Moires with Prof. Oster and Salvador Dalí2006 · Director	Director
The Song of Central Park2006 · Director	Director
JJonas' Independence Speech at the Anniversary of the Filmmaker's Cooperative2006 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
GGraffiti Museum Bronx, NYC2006 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
EEnd of the Millennium Espresso2006 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
IImperfect Film2006 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
TTaping for As I was Moving Ahead…2006 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
KKreutzer Sonata2006 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
A Visit to Stan Brakhage2006 · Director	Director
Velvet Underground's First Public Appearance2006 · Director	Director
JJohn & Yoko Bed-In2006 · Director	Director
To Barbara Rubin with Love2006 · Director	Director
AA Visit to Stan Brakhage2006 · Director	Director
AA Visit to Timothy Leary2006 · Director	Director
DDedication to Matsuo Basho2006 · Director	Director
Bibi Hansen2006 · Director	Director
Carl Dreyer2006 · Director	Director
Poets at the Living Theater2006 · Director	Director
Warhol and Maciunas2006 · Director	Director
Andy at Work2006 · Director	Director
Robert Frank Films2006 · Director	Director
Salvador Dalí at Work2006 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Cinémathèque Française2006 · Director	Director
Brakhage Crosses Central Park2006 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Monks of Cinema2006 · Director	Director
To John With Love2006 · Director	Director
John & Yoko Bed-In2006 · Director	Director
TThe Monks of Cinema2006 · Director	Director
AA Visit to Timothy Leary2006 · Director	Director
II Am Searching for Nothing2006 · Director	Director
FFluxus on the Hudson2006 · Director	Director
EElia Kazan2006 · Director	Director
PPhil Glass Plays for Ralph Steiner's Mechanical Principles2006 · Director	Director
JJackie & Lee Fragments of an Unfinished Biography2006 · Director	Director
AAllen Ginsberg Sings Blues2006 · Director	Director
The Destruction Quartet2006 · Director	Director
SScenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch2005 · Director	Director
Notes on Utopia2005 · Director	Director
AA Letter from Greenpoint2004 · Mekas, Director, Writer	Mekas, Director, Writer
AA Visit To Hans Richter2003 · Director	Director
Williamsburg, Brooklyn2003 · Director	Director
MMysteries2002 · Director	Director
Three Friends2002 · Director	Director
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten2001 · Director	Director
A Letter to Penny Arcade2001 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
DDiary Entry: Father and Daughter2001 · Director	Director
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty2000 · Narrator (voice), Director, Writer	Narrator (voice), Director, Writer
RRequiem for a Manual Typewriter2000 · Director	Director
Silence, Please2000 · Director	Director
Autobiography of a Man Who Carried his Memory in his Eyes2000 · Director	Director
Mozart & Elvis2000 · Director	Director
A Few Notes on Andy's Factory1999 · Director	Director
This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography1999 · Director, Producer, Writer	Director, Producer, Writer
LLetter to John from Jonas1999 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
LLaboratorium Anthology1999 · Director	Director
Patti Smith at Anthology Film Archives Febr. 19, 19981998 · Director	Director
Song of Avignon1998 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Nam June Paik's Piano Piece1997 · Director	Director
Letters from Nowhere1997 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Happy Birthday to John1997 · Director	Director
Birth of a Nation1997 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit1997 · Director	Director
SSong of The Salamander1996 · Director	Director
Celebrate Cinema 1011996 · Director	Director
Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old1996 · Director	Director
On My Way to Fujiyama I met..1995 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
Imperfect Three-Image Films1995 · Director	Director
Memories of Frankenstein1995 · Director	Director
PPeter Kubelka at the Library of Congress1993 · Director	Director
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)1992 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained1992 · Director	Director
Carl G. Jung by Jerome Hill or Lapis Philosophorum1991 · Director	Director
Quartet Number One1991 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
A Walk1990 · Director	Director
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections1990 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
MMob of Angels: Baptism1990 · Director	Director
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life1986 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
CCup/Saucer/Two Dancers/Radio1983 · Director	Director
SStreet Songs1983 · Director	Director
EErick Hawkins: Excerpts from "Here and Now with Watchers"1983 · Director	Director
Travel Songs1981 · Director	Director
The Song of Stockholm1981 · Director	Director
Self-Portrait1980 · Director	Director
Robert Haller's Wedding1980 · Director	Director
PParadise Not Yet Lost1979 · Director	Director
Notes for Jerome1978 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
In Between1978 · Director	Director
Lost, Lost, Lost1976 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania1972 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
EElvis Live at Madison Square Garden1972 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
The Song of Moscow1971 · Director	Director
Time & Fortune Vietnam Newsreel1969 · Director	Director
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches1968 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
The Song of Avila1967 · Narrator, Director	Narrator, Director
TThe Italian Notebook1967 · Director	Director
The Song of Assisi1967 · Director	Director
The Song of Italy1967 · Director	Director
Notes on the Circus1967 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
Hare Krishna1967 · Director	Director
For Life, Against the War1967 · Director	Director
Report from Millbrook1966 · Director	Director
Cassis1966 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
Film Magazine of the Arts1965 · Director	Director
AAward Presentation to Andy Warhol1964 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
The Brig1964 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
Guns of the Trees1961 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
WWhenDirector	Director
MMarcel Hanoun weddingDirector	Director