Jonas Mekas
Directing
🎂 1922-12-24
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.
Cast credits(147)
Self
2004
Self
2021
Self
1990
N°1590
1978
Wake Guest
2014
Self
1976
Self (archive footage)
2023
Self
1994
Narrator (voice)
2000
Self
1972
2005
Self
1996
Self
2018
Self
1965
Himself (voice) (segment "Mt. Ventoux")
2011
Self
2013
self
2013
Self (uncredited)
1965
Self (archive footage)
1979
Self
2013
Himself
2002
Self
2006
Himself
1995
Self
2022
Self
2008
2008
Self (archive footage)
2022
Himself
2021
Self
2006
Butterfly Wing
1990
Himself
2013
Self
2015
Self
1980
Self (archive footage)
1986
Self
1997
Self
2019
Himself
2020
Himself
2011
Narrator (voice)
2019
Self
2005
Self
1997
Himself
1986
Himself
2008
1981
1965
1989
2019
Self
2017
Self
1967
Self
1966
Lounge Patron
1966
Himself
2012
Self
2011
2020
Self (archive footage)
2009
2018
2016
2005
Self
2019
2018
himself
2016
Self
2007
Jonas Mekas
2012
Self
1998
Self
2006
Self
1986
Self
2019
1992
1978
1985
Himself
2011
Self
1968
himself
1966
Himself
1968
Self
2007
Self
2018
Himself
2002
Himself
2000
Self
1989
1970
Self
1978
1961
Self
2010
Self (archive footage)
2021
1991
2001
1981
2015
2022
2022
Himself
1972
2002
Himself
1996
1962
Self
1984
Himself
2012
1970
Self
Himself
1969
1974
2019
himself
2011
2010
Himself
2016
2019
Self
1998
Himself
1971
2006
Self
1965
Himself
1991
Mekas
2004
himself
2003
2022
Narrator
1967
Self
1980
Himself
1980
himself
2010
2009
Himself
1993
Self
2016
2019
2011
Himself
2010
1999
Himself
2009
Self
2009
Himself
1965
Self
2003
Himself
1992
2019
Himself (voice)
2006
Himself
2006
Self
2007
Himself
1996
2008
1991
Self
2007
Himself
1999
Himself
2014
Jonas Mekas
2022
2019
Himself
1996
2015
1975
Himself
1979
Directing (140)
Director
1976
Director
2000
Director
1996
Director
1990
Director
2011
Director
2003
Director
2013
Director
2010
Director
2008
Director
1964
Director
1986
Director
1966
Director
1997
Director
1999
Director
2011
Director
1997
Director
1997
Director
2017
Director
2012
Director
2006
Director
2001
Director
2020
Director
2016
Director
2019
Director
2006
Director
2006
Director
2007
Director
1965
Director
2012
Director
1967
Director
1998
Director
2006
Director
2006
Director
1992
Director
2006
Director
2005
Director
2010
Director
2011
Director
2006
Director
1983
Director
2000
Director
1961
Director
2006
Director
1967
Director
2007
Director
1983
Director
1996
Director
2006
Director
2009
Director
Director
1981
Director
2000
Director
1967
Director
1978
Director
2014
Director
2011
Director
2010
Director
2001
Director
2006
Director
2015
Director
1991
Director
1970
Director
2012
Director
Director
2006
Director
1981
Director
2015
Director
1995
Director
1972
Director
2011
Director
1990
Director
2013
Director
1999
Director
2003
Director
1965
Director
2004
Director
1995
Director
Director
2001
Director
1978
Director
2007
Assistant Director
1963
Director
1995
Director
1980
Director
2014
Director
1967
Director
1967
Director
1967
Director
1980
Director
2001
Director
2006
Director
2006
Director
1990
Director
2011
Director
2011
Director
2012
Director
2007
Director
2016
Director
1969
Director
1999
Director
1983
Director
2006
Director
1996
Director
1998
Director
2010
Director
2006
Director
1993
Director
1997
Director
1966
Director
2006
Director
2006
Director
2002
Director
1967
Director
2015
Director
2006
Director
2007
Director
2007
Director
2006
Director
1991
Director
1996
Director
2017
Director
2010
Director
2007
Director
1999
Director
2009
Director
2000
Director
2014
Director
2006
Director
2017
Director
2002
Director
2006
Director
2007
Director
2005
Director
2015
Director
1997
Director
2006
Director
2011
Director
2011
Director
1979
Director
1992
Writing (16)
Crew (20)
Cinematography
1976
Cinematography
2000
Cinematography
1996
Cinematography
1990
Cinematography
2013
Cinematography
1965
Cinematography
1964
Cinematography
1986
Cinematography
1997
Cinematography
1997
Cinematography
2006
Cinematography
1965
Cinematography
2006
Cinematography
1961
Cinematography
1967
Cinematography
1978
Cinematography
2015
Creator
2004
Cinematography
1969
Cinematography
2000
