Jonas Mekas
Date of birth: 1922-12-24
Place of birth: Semeniškiai, Lithuania
Known for: Directing
Also known as:
Biography
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.
Movie Credits
My Country is Cinema
1998-01-01
A portrait of Jonas Mekas.
Last Interview Film of Jonas Mekas/version 1
2019-04-08
"Last Interview Film of Jonas Mekas / Version 1": this is the last filmed interview of Jonas Mekas.
The Velvet Underground
2021-10-15
Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directe
Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
2022-08-12
Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the
Notes for a Déjà vu
2022-02-21
The immediately recognisable voice and sweet wistful words of the late legend of the avantgarde, Jon
Cinema and Sanctuary
2019-06-20
The astonishing story of the first documentary film school in the USA—The Institute of Film Techniqu
Strong Medicine
1981-11-25
Adaptation of an avant-garde play about Rhoda, a hysterical heroine who feels oppressed by the peopl
Persistence of Vision
1984-01-01
A short documentary profile of the Anthology Film Archives, shot on the eve of the move to the histo
All About Bolex
2015-01-01
"I developed a need to try to retain everything I was passing through, by means of my Bolex camera."
A Report from Venice
2015-06-01
Opening of the Internet Saga Pavilion. At Palazzo Foscari Contarini, Venice. May 6 and 7, 2015.
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
2023-03-24
The quixotic journey of Nam June Paik, one of the most famous Asian artists of the 20th century, who
Back from New York
2021-10-25
Two artists, whose work was constrained during the Soviet era, fled to New York. There, they met wit
Michael Snow Up Close
1996-01-01
MICHAEL SNOW UP CLOSE was produced on the occasion of The Michael Snow Project, a major, career-span
The Signing
2009-01-01
MM Serra and Jonas Mekas sign a paper in 3D.
Anger Me
2006-10-23
Elio Gelmini interviews Avantgarde filmmaker Kenneth Anger. With archive footage of Angers films, he
Lavender
2010-06-01
A wholesome moment: Jonas Mekas, MM Serra, Ken Jacobs, and Flo Jacobs take lavender from a stranger'
My Birthday
2014-12-23
Jonas Mekas talks about December 24th, his birthday.
Home Movies 1971-81
1985-01-01
Home movies shot on Super 8mm by W+B Hein over 10 years.
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
1992-12-31
The life and work of Fluxus artist George Maciunas as seen in clips filmed between 1952 and 1978.
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000-11-05
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde
Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
2012-12-01
An autobiographical diary film assembled from unused footage shot between 1960 and 2000, interwoven
A Poet from the Lower East Side
1997-01-01
Filmmaker Gyula Gazdag's fascinating documentary follows Hungarian poet, playwright and activist Ist
Belladonna
1989-05-22
An experimental short by Beth B. It consists of rapidly intercut close-ups of talking heads reading
Jonas Keeps Shooting Around
2002-08-01
A short portrait of Jonas Mekas on the occasion of his 2002 retrospective in Paris (for his 80th bir
River of Fundament
2014-02-12
Visionary artist Matthew Barney returns to cinema with this 3-part epic, a radical reinvention of No
Vertigo
2022-07-13
Gozo Yoshimasu, a pioneer of Japanese contemporary poetry, pursued the vision of his ally, the late
Galaxie
1966-09-03
In March and April of 1966, Markopoulos created this filmic portrait of writers and artists from his
Interview and Reading: Jonas Mekas
1991-01-01
Jonas Mekas recites poems of his, both in English and Lithuanian. Exclusive Mekas interview by the p
Jonas Mekas Anthology
2022-09-03
A portrait movie of the Godfather of American avantgarde cinema. Through material filmed primarily i
Fragments of Paradise
2022-08-31
For over 70 years, Jonas Mekas, internationally known as the "godfather" of avant-garde cinema, docu
Notes for Jerome
1978-07-03
During the summer of 1966 Jonas Mekas spent two months in Cassis, as a guest of Jerome Hill. Mekas v
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
2022-09-21
This very special film features a carefully curated selection of some of the priceless messages that
The Lamb
Jonas Mekas reads aloud in "one Night from the thousand Nights and a Night"
J. Mekas
1980-01-01
In 1977, Robertas Verba followed Jonas Mekas in Lithuania, his second trip there after he left the c
Occhio privato sul nuovo mondo
1970-01-01
A film by Alfredo Leonardi.
Guest
2011-03-25
Filmmaker José Luis Guerin documents his experience during a year of traveling as a guest of film fe
Viva Jonas!
A tiny part of our homage for the minors master.
Doc
2008-12-09
The amazing adventures of forgotten American novelist and Paris Review founder, Harold Louis "Doc" H
Just Visiting This Planet
1991-09-05
Peter Sempel's masterful poetic film tribute to butoh performer Kazuo Ohno.
Jonas
1968-01-01
A verité portrait of Jonas Mekas making his daily rounds, JONAS shows us the underground impresario
Maya Deren, Take Zero
2012-01-30
This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew h
The Perfect Team: The Making of 'On the Bowery'
2009-01-01
Filmmaker Michael Rogosin's fascinating exploration of the production history behind his father Lion
Four Shadows
1978-10-03
Four four-minute image sections and four four-minute sound sections are linked in all combinations o
Diane the Zebra Woman
1962-01-01
Diane the Zebra Woman follows four women’s misadventures through the streets of New York City in 196
On the Holy Spirit
2016-10-22
Alexander Kluge - October 22 2016
I Had Nowhere to Go
2016-08-04
I Had Nowhere To Go is based on Jonas Mekas’s diary. It’s been over 70 years since he left his villa
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
2002-03-15
Documentary about the life of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, who led the independent film movemen
Reminiscences from Germany
2012-01-01
A narrative presented non-chronologically of Jonas Mekas's time in German forced labour camps and di
The Song of Avila
1967-12-31
Filmed during Jonas Mekas’s visit to Avila in 1967, this short records his impressions of the city,
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1986-02-22
A film collage tracing the story of the lives, loves, and deaths within the artistic community surro
Step Across the Border
1990-09-08
An avant-garde documentary film on English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith.
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
1997-07-03
This is a video record of the Buddhist Wake ceremony at Allen Ginsberg's apartment. You see Allen, n
The Definition of Insanity
2005-12-10
Co-director Robert Margolis stars as Robert, an actor who may or may not be himself in this intense
I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
2017-09-01
In his latest film, Mekas shares what he describes as “a valentine to Yoko Ono,” done in his signatu
The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man
1981-08-01
“New York plays itself, as Taylor Mead and Winifred Bryan regale in pas de deux among the trashcans
The Love Merchant
1966-01-01
Biker Click procures lovely willing young women for decadent millionaire playboy Kendall Harvey III.
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
1996-08-30
Jonas Mekas weaves an elegiac diary film from his 1971–72 return to Lithuania, chronicling a visit t
Notes on Marie Menken
2006-04-20
A look at avant-garde filmmaker Marie Menken.
Going Home
1972-10-04
A home movie by Adolfas Mekas and wife Pola Chapelle on their travels to Lithuania and Europe. It wa
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
2007-04-11
In this entrancing documentary on performance artist, photographer and underground filmmaker Jack Sm
Salvador Dalí at Work
2006-11-11
Filmmaker Jonas Mekas follows the surrealist artist around the streets of New York documenting stage
No. 18: Mahagonny
1980-09-13
Harry Smith’s final film; an epic four-screen projection. Smith worked on this cinematic transformat
Jonas in the Brig
1965-09-10
A newsreel of Jonas Mekas shooting his filmed version of The Brig on the set of the Living Theatre p
Underground New York
1968-01-01
A rare behind-the-scenes view of the exploding New York “underground” in the late sixities, a turbul
ORG
1979-08-31
Explores the complex relationship between the spirit, body, and mind. The film is a nightmare with c
Self-Portrait
1980-06-07
Jonas Mekas reflects on his life.
Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007
2007-01-09
The film documents an encounter at 202 Blvd Saint-Germain, in a cafe underneath Apollinaire's last p
My Conversations on Film
2013-10-13
This distinctly personal journey into the artistic possibilities of independent film is not to be mi
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
2006-01-01
Provides a rare glimpse into the world of George and Mike Kuchar, underground filmmaking brothers fr
Jonas in the Desert
1994-01-01
Not a documentary in the strictest sense of the word. Rather, it is a journey through the world of t
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
2011-07-24
Experimental filmmaker Pip Chodorov traces the course of experimental film in America, taking the ve
‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen
1974-11-05
Various unrelated vignettes, often juxtaposing sound and image.
Filmmakers
1969-01-01
Iimura creates a short self-portrait as well as brief portraits of five of his peers: Brakhage, Vand
Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
1996-01-01
The real history of the cinema is the invisible history – history of friends getting together doing
Journey to Lithuania
1971-01-01
During the trip back to Lithuania, Jonas Mekas made Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania, Adolfas
Laboratorium Anthology
1999-01-01
Scenes from the life and work at Anthology Film Archives. Much of the footage in this video was shot
Invocation: Maya Deren
1986-04-24
Maya Deren is a legend of avant-garde cinema. This authoritative biography of the charismatic filmma
It Came from Kuchar
2009-09-22
It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaki
Visionaries
2010-01-01
Documentary on Jonas Mekas and the American avant-garde cinema, with several new interviews and appe
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
1965-09-03
In 1964 Film Culture magazine chose Andy Warhol for its annual Independent Film award. The plan was
New York Conversations
2010-09-21
New York Conversations is a documentary made of varied conversations revolving around cinema in New
George: The Story of George Maciunas and Fluxus
2018-02-21
In 1961 Lithuanian American artist and impresario George Maciunas established the avant-garde art mo
Warhol's Cinema 1963-1968: Mirror for the Sixties
1989-01-01
Documentary on Andy Warhol's cinema of the sixties, made for Channel 4 in association with The Facto
What Is Cinema?
2013-09-06
Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Ro
Question a Day
2008-01-01
In 2008, Andrew Lampert, employed as the film archivist of Anthology Film Archives, endeavored to as
Letter to John from Jonas
1999-03-06
Jonas Mekas' video letter to John Hanhardt, in which he declines an offer for Anthology to be taken
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
2000-02-09
A short lecture by Jonas Mekas
Portrait Serie - Jonas Mekas
2010-10-14
A short film portrait of legendary filmmaker Jonas Mekas, talking about the Buddha and the meaning o
Keep singing: a tribute to Jonas Mekas
2019-01-31
A film tribute to the inspirational Jonas Mekas.
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
2018-05-02
The 29-minute experimental film Christmas on Earth caused a sensation when it first screened in New
Poem Posters
1967-05-19
... with real-life portraits of Jayne Mansfield, Frak O'Hara, Ruth Ford, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson,
Excavating Taylor Mead
2005-10-08
The film icon/Andy Warhol darling is interviewed is his legendary cluttered apartment.
A Letter from Greenpoint
2004-04-22
In February 2004, after 30 years of my life in SoHo, I made a decision to leave SoHo and move to Gr
A Matter of Baobab
1968-01-12
International Cast of Actors: Jonas Mekas, from Lithuania, poet and film-maker; Louis Brigante, from
Makeshift (for Mekas)
2019-05-25
Jem Cohen's memory-tribute to Jonas Mekas displaces its first-person narration from voice-over to on
TO NEW YORK WITH LOVE - A Letter to Penny Arcade June 25, 2001
2001-06-23
I made this video June 23, 2001, as a letter for my good friend Penny Arcade who some days earlier h
Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
2019-06-05
An intimate portrait of the superb actress Gena Rowlands, icon of independent cinema. Together with
Self Discovery for Social Survival
2019-06-15
Self Discovery for Social Survival is a collaborative surf and music film produced by Brooklyn based
Nitsch
2018-01-29
A short film by Maria Lassnig, shot in 1970.
Dirt
1965-09-25
Two nuns take a bath, then meet a sailor on the Staten Island Ferry.
A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol
2015-08-25
Stephen Smith sets out to discover the real Andy Warhol - in the hour-by-hour detail of his daily li
Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
2009-12-31
Using his trademark flicker method, Ken Jacobs pays homage to the oldest type of color film, Kodachr
Award
1992-01-01
A behind-the-scenes look at the man behind the trophy and the poisons that taint an otherwise jubila
Andy Warhol Screen Tests
1965-11-28
The films were made between 1964 and 1966 at Warhol's Factory studio in New York City. Subjects were
Nico Icon
1995-09-08
A look into the many lives of Christa Päffgen, otherwise known as Nico; from cutie German mädchen to
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
1990-07-18
Iconic American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol is the subject of this documentary, which looks at
Who Gets to Call It Art?
2006-02-01
Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Henry Geldzahler reflects on the 1960s pop art scene in New York.
Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
2019-11-03
"My last image of Jonas."—Ken Jacobs
My Mars Bar Movie
2011-10-06
For some twenty years Mars Bar, on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue, Manhattan, has bee
Imagine
1972-12-23
A surreal, half-fiction, half real life footage of a day in the life of John lennon and Yoko Ono, co
Cinématon
1978-12-20
Cinématon is a 156-hour long experimental film by French director Gérard Courant. It was the longest
Andy Warhol's Factory People... Inside the Sixties Silver Factory
2008-01-01
Takes an in-depth look at the lives and times of the people who hung out with Andy Warhol and "worke
Paradise Not Yet Lost
1979-07-03
The film is arranged in six chronologically-ordered parts, each filmed in a different location durin
Beyond the Bolex
2018-11-08
Filmmaker Alyssa Bolsey stumbles on a treasure trove of vintage cameras, old film reels, fading phot
365 Day Project
2007-12-31
This exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in calenda
Empire
1965-03-06
Filmed by Jonas Mekas from the 44th floor of the Time-Life Building, “Empire” explores the passage o
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
1968-03-01
Also known as Walden, Jonas Mekas’s first diary film is a six-reel chronicle of his life in 1960s Ne
Lost, Lost, Lost
1976-09-14
Drawn from footage shot between 1949 and 1963, Jonas Mekas’s autobiographical diary film chronicles
Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
2011-01-01
“Drawing on his personal archives, Mekas has assembled a Fluxus vaudeville starring Yoko Ono, Joseph
Song of Avignon
1998-07-03
Jonas Mekas reflects on a 1966 trip to Avignon that offered solace during a period of personal crisi
Quartet Number One
1991-07-03
Quartet Number One (1991) 8 min.
Jonas Mekas, Friday 13th October
1996-12-31
Jonas, Birgit and Anja are leaving for the Brooklyn Bridge. By taxi, buying beer, drinking in the st
![Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/5yEUYxLQWc71aL7OGrhSnpslsQO.jpg)
Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas
1966-12-31
Screen test for Andy Warhol, 1966
Not in Our Name
2003-12-31
Details unknown
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
2008-01-01
Filmmaker Jonas Mekas follows his friend, film director Martin Scorsese, and his cast and crew, thro
The Song of Central Park
2006-11-11
During the course of a single winter’s day, January 16, 1966, Jonas Mekas captured impressionistic g
Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
2011-04-09
A series of video letters between José Luis Guerín and Jonas Mekas.
Tapes
2020-09-14
The tapes in the program consist of some of Mekas’ earliest cassettes from the 1990s not long after
Postcard from America
1975-01-01
After the author’s period of experimentation, these American notes are extremely straightforward. As
3.11 A Sense of Home Films
2011-09-11
In memory of the Japanese earthquake on 3.11, each director presents a 3 minute and 11 second short
Elegy for J.M.
2019-12-16
Created by Anthology’s Archivist John Klacsmann, the visual track of Elegy for J.M. is the result of
Jonas Towards Broadway
2019-01-01
Short portrait of Jonas Mekas by filmmaker and veteran Jonas chronicler, Peter Sempel.
3 Friends Singing (...in the Desert)
2019-01-01
A short portrait of Jonas Mekas by filmmaker and veteran Jonas chronicler Peter Sempel.
Axiom of Choice
2003-01-01
Evoking the physiognomy of a Rembrandt portrait, Axiom of Choice depicts Jonas Mekas and his son Seb
Reminiscences of Jonas Mekas
2016-05-29
A “Cinéma, de notre temps” series episode directed by french filmmaker Jackie Raynal, originally air
Tiny Tim: King for a Day
2020-08-20
The story of Tiny Tim’s improbable rise to stardom is the ultimate fairytale - and so is that of his
Cinématon n°1590 : Jonas Mekas
Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
1986-01-01
Presents an intimate view of four decades of the Swiss-born artist Robert Frank who has had an extra
EXPRMNTL
2016-10-08
Knokke, Belgium. A small mundane coastal town, home to the beau-monde. To compete with Venice and Ca
The Sin of Jesus
1961-12-10
An egg-sorting woman shrugs off even the appearance of Christ. From Isaak Babel story.
The Invisible Father
2021-03-19
In the 1960s, beat poet and experimental filmmaker Piero Heliczer helped shape New American Cinema,
Sunday December 30, 2007
2007-12-30
I close the 365 Day Project and announce the 1001 Nights Project ---HASTA LA VISTA! ---
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
1968-03-01
Also known as Walden, Jonas Mekas’s first diary film is a six-reel chronicle of his life in 1960s Ne
Notes in Lifestyle Margins
2002-03-11
The film tells about the famous Lithuanian director Vytautas Žalakevičius. The film contains many ex
Jonas Mekas in Budapest
1993-11-01
Experimental movie about Jonas Mekas spending time in Budapest.
Vies et morts d'Andy Warhol
2005-11-25
Icon of pop art, Andy Warhol has marked the 20th century. This film pays tribute to him with the exc
Nam June Paik: Lessons from the Video Master
2006-01-01
Friends and colleagues (including Yoko Ono and Merce Cunningham) of Nam June Paik share their though
Behind the Artist: Andy Warhol, an American Prophet
2015-06-19
This documentary cracks open the meticulously constructed façade of Andy Warhol, exposing the comple
RAHHH
the final one
Sean
the second one
The Misfits - 30 Years of Fluxus
The film portrays a group of artists who since the early 1960s have completely disrupted our ideas o
Ricky Leacock Visit, April 15, 1971
1971-04-15
Jonas Mekas visit. Harry comes by before Ricky visit. 1. 12 p.m. April 15th -- Jonas dares to come
Jonas Mekas in Paris 10/97
1998-10-08
Jonas Mekas came to Paris in October 1997 for the video release of his film Walden. I filmed the eve
A Mixtape for Stom
2025-09-20
"A Mixtape for Stom" is an intimate documentary portrait of Japanese experimental filmmaker Stom Sog
Filmstudio, mon amour
2015-10-21
Shooting Guns
1966-01-01
Shot in 1960 on the set of Jonas Mekas' 'Guns of the Trees'. Dedicated to Ron Rice.