Jonas Mekas
Biografia
Jonas Mekas (24 December 1922 - 23 January 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.
Filmografia
Filmy i seriale od najnowszych
A Mixtape for Stom
Film • 2025
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
Film • 2023
jako Self (archive footage)
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
Film • 2022
Jono Meko antologija
Film • 2022
jako Jonas Mekas
Fragments of Paradise
Film • 2022
jako Self (archive footage)
Film, żywy zapis naszej pamięci
Film • 2022
jako Self
眩暈 Vertigo
Film • 2022
Notes for a Déjà vu
Film • 2022
Sugrįžę iš Niujorko
Film • 2021
jako Himself
The Velvet Underground
Film • 2021
jako Self
9/11: Dzień ataku
Film • 2021
jako Self
The Invisible Father
Film • 2021
jako Self (archive footage)
Tapes
Film • 2020
Tiny Tim: King for a Day
Film • 2020
jako Himself
Elegy for J.M.
Film • 2019
Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
Film • 2019
Cinema and Sanctuary
Film • 2019
jako Self
Self Discovery for Social Survival
Film • 2019
jako Narrator (voice)
Gena Rowlands — Unabhängig im Kino und im Leben
Film • 2019
jako Self
Makeshift (for Mekas)
Film • 2019
Last Interview Film of Jonas Mekas/version 1
Film • 2019
jako Self
Keep singing: a tribute to Jonas Mekas
Film • 2019
Jonas Towards Broadway
Film • 2019
3 Friends Singing (...in the Desert)
Film • 2019
Beyond the Bolex
Film • 2018
jako Self
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
Film • 2018
George
Film • 2018
jako Self
Nitsch
Film • 2018
I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
Film • 2017
jako Self
On the Holy Spirit
Film • 2016
EXPRMNTL
Film • 2016
jako himself
I Had Nowhere to Go
Film • 2016
jako Himself
Reminiscences of Jonas Mekas
Film • 2016
jako Self
Últimas correspondencias
Film • 2016
jako Self
Filmstudio, mon amour
Film • 2015
jako Sé stesso
A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol
Film • 2015
jako Self
Behind the Artist: Andy Warhol, an American Prophet
Film • 2015
A Report from Venice
Film • 2015
All About Bolex
Film • 2015
My Birthday
Film • 2014
River of Fundament
Film • 2014
jako Wake Guest
Mes entretiens filmés
Film • 2013
jako Himself
Jonas in the Jungle
Film • 2013
jako Self
What Is Cinema?
Film • 2013
jako Self
Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
Film • 2012
jako Jonas Mekas
Maya Deren, Take Zero
Film • 2012
jako Himself
Reminiszenzen aus Deutschland
Film • 2012
jako Self
My Mars Bar Movie
Film • 2011
jako himself
3.11 A Sense of Home Films
Film • 2011
jako Himself (voice) (segment "Mt. Ventoux")
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Film • 2011
jako Himself
Correspondencia Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
Film • 2011
jako Himself
Guest
Film • 2011
jako Self
Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
Film • 2011
Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman
Film • 2011
Portrait Serie - Jonas Mekas
Film • 2010
jako himself
New York Conversations
Film • 2010
Lavender
Film • 2010
jako Self
Visionaries
Film • 2010
jako Himself
Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
Film • 2009
jako Himself
It Came from Kuchar
Film • 2009
jako Self (archive footage)
The Signing
Film • 2009
The Perfect Team: The Making of 'On the Bowery'
Film • 2009
jako Self
Doc
Film • 2008
jako Himself
Question a Day
Film • 2008
Andy Warhol's Factory People... Inside the Sixties Silver Factory
Film • 2008
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Film • 2008
jako Self
365 Day Project
Film • 2007
jako Self
Sunday December 30, 2007
Film • 2007
jako Self
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
Film • 2007
jako Self
Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007
Film • 2007
jako Self
The Song of Central Park
Film • 2006
jako Himself (voice)
Salvador Dalí at Work
Film • 2006
jako Self
Jonas' Independence Speech at the Anniversary of the Filmmaker's Cooperative
Film • 2006
Graffiti Museum Bronx, NYC
Film • 2006
End of the Millennium Espresso
Film • 2006
Imperfect Film
Film • 2006
Taping for As I was Moving Ahead…
Film • 2006
Kreutzer Sonata
Film • 2006
Anger Me
Film • 2006
jako Himself
Notes on Marie Menken
Film • 2006
jako Self
Who Gets to Call It Art?
Film • 2006
jako Self
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
Film • 2006
Nam June Paik: Lessons from the Video Master
Film • 2006
jako Self
The Definition of Insanity
Film • 2005
Vies et morts d'Andy Warhol
Film • 2005
Excavating Taylor Mead
Film • 2005
jako Self
Kulturplatz
Serial • 2004
jako Self
A Letter from Greenpoint
Film • 2004
jako Mekas
Not in Our Name
Film • 2003
jako himself
Axiom of Choice
Film • 2003
jako Self
Jonas tourne toujours
Film • 2002
jako Himself
Im Spiegel der Maya Deren
Film • 2002
jako Himself
Pastabos gyvenimo būdo paraštėse
Film • 2002
A Letter to Penny Arcade
Film • 2001
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Film • 2000
jako Narrator (voice)
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
Film • 2000
jako Himself
This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Film • 1999
jako Self
Letter to John from Jonas
Film • 1999
Laboratorium Anthology
Film • 1999
jako Himself
Jonas Mekas in Paris 10/97
Film • 1998
Song of Avignon
Film • 1998
jako Self
My Country is Cinema
Film • 1998
jako Self
Birth of a Nation
Film • 1997
jako Self
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
Film • 1997
jako Self
Ginsberg - egy költö a Lower East Side-ról
Film • 1997
jako Self
Friday The 13 Okt, Jonas Mekas
Film • 1996
jako Himself
Michael Snow Up Close
Film • 1996
jako Himself
Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
Film • 1996
jako Himself
Nico Icon
Film • 1995
jako Self
Jonas in the Desert
Film • 1994
jako Self
Jonas Mekas in Budapest
Film • 1993
jako Himself
The Misfits - 30 Years of Fluxus
Film • 1993
jako Self
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
Film • 1992
Cinématon n°1590 : Jonas Mekas
Film • 1992
Award
Film • 1992
jako Himself
Just Visiting This Planet
Film • 1991
Quartet Number One
Film • 1991
Interview and Reading: Jonas Mekas
Film • 1991
jako Himself
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
Film • 1990
jako Self
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Film • 1990
jako Self
Step Across the Border
Film • 1990
jako Butterfly Wing
Belladonna
Film • 1989
Warhol's Cinema 1963-1968: Mirror for the Sixties
Film • 1989
jako Self
Invocation: Maya Deren
Film • 1986
jako Himself
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Film • 1986
jako Self (archive footage)
Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
Film • 1986
jako Self
Home Movies 1971-81
Film • 1985
Persistence of Vision
Film • 1984
jako Self
Strong Medicine
Film • 1981
The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man
Film • 1981
Travel Songs
Film • 1981
jako Self (uncredited)
No. 18: Mahagonny
Film • 1980
jako Self
Self-Portrait
Film • 1980
jako Himself
J. Mekas
Film • 1980
jako Self
ORG
Film • 1979
jako Self (archive footage)
Paradise Not Yet Lost
Film • 1979
jako Himself
Cinématon
Film • 1978
jako N°1590
Four Shadows
Film • 1978
Notes for Jerome
Film • 1978
jako Self
Lost, Lost, Lost
Film • 1976
jako Self
Cartoline dall'America
Film • 1975
‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen
Film • 1974
Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
Film • 1973
Imagine
Film • 1972
jako Self
Going Home
Film • 1972
jako Himself
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Film • 1972
jako Self
Up Your Legs Forever
Film • 1971
jako Self - Legs
Ricky Leacock Visit, April 15, 1971
Film • 1971
jako Self
Journey to Lithuania
Film • 1971
jako Himself
Occhio privato sul nuovo mondo
Film • 1970
Filmmakers
Film • 1969
jako Himself
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Film • 1968
jako Self
A Matter of Baobab
Film • 1968
Jonas
Film • 1968
jako Himself
Underground New York
Film • 1968
jako Self
The Song of Avila
Film • 1967
jako Narrator
Poem Posters
Film • 1967
jako Self
![Plakat: Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/5yEUYxLQWc71aL7OGrhSnpslsQO.jpg)
Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas
Film • 1966
jako himself
Galaxie
Film • 1966
jako Self
The Love Merchant
Film • 1966
jako Lounge Patron
Shooting Guns
Film • 1966
Andy Warhol Screen Tests
Film • 1965
jako Self
Dirt
Film • 1965
Jonas in the Brig
Film • 1965
jako Himself
Empire
Film • 1965
jako Self (uncredited)
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Film • 1964
jako Self
Diane the Zebra Woman
Film • 1962
The Sin of Jesus
Film • 1961
The Lamb
Film
jako Self
Viva Jonas!
Film
jako Himself