
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.
Directing
December 24, 1922
January 23, 2019
96 years old
Semeniškiai, Lithuania
0.6

A Mixtape for Stom

Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
Self (archive footage)

Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
Self

Notes for a Déjà vu

Vertigo

Jonas Mekas Anthology
Jonas Mekas

Fragments of Paradise
Self (archive footage)
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages

The Velvet Underground
Self

Back from New York
Himself

The Invisible Father
Self (archive footage)

9/11: Life Under Attack
Self

Tapes

Tiny Tim: King for a Day
Himself

Tapes
Director
Last Interview Film of Jonas Mekas/version 1
Self

Cinema and Sanctuary
Self

Keep singing: a tribute to Jonas Mekas

Makeshift (for Mekas)

Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
Self

Self Discovery for Social Survival
Narrator (voice)

Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
3 Friends Singing (...in the Desert)

Elegy for J.M.
Jonas Towards Broadway

Requiem
Director

Self Discovery for Social Survival
Writer

George: The Story of George Maciunas and Fluxus
Self

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground

Nitsch

Beyond the Bolex
Self

I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
Self

I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
Director
From the Notebooks of a Cinema Maniac
Director

From the diaries of a cinema maniac
Director
Crickets
Director

On the Holy Spirit

I Had Nowhere to Go
Himself

Reminiscences of Jonas Mekas
Self

EXPRMNTL
himself

Últimas correspondencias
Self

On the Holy Spirit
Director

Yoko Ono Lennon's Courage Awards 2016: Laurie Anderson, Mohammad el Gharani, Eileen Boxer, RoseLee Goldberg, LoftOpera
Director

Últimas correspondencias
Director

All About Bolex

A Report from Venice

A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol
Self

Behind the Artist: Andy Warhol, an American Prophet

Filmstudio, mon amour
Sé stesso

My Bolexes
Director

My Bolexes
Cinematography

All About Bolex
Director

A Report from Venice
Director

All About Bolex
Camera Operator

Scenes from the Life of Raimund Abraham
Director

New Seasons Movement IV
Director

My Birthday

River of Fundament
Wake Guest

My Birthday
Director

Destruction of the Berlin Wall
Director

Halloween 1990
Director
A Cardinal
Director
Flowers
Director

My Conversations on Film
Himself

What Is Cinema?
Self
Jonas in the Jungle
Self

The Sixties Quartet
Director

I Leave Chelsea Hotel
Director

Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
Jonas Mekas
Maya Deren, Take Zero
Himself

Reminiscences from Germany
Self

Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
Director

Reminiscences from Germany
Director

20 Little Films
Director
Happy Easter Ride
Director

Guest
Self

Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Himself

My Mars Bar Movie
himself

Re: Maciunas and Fluxus

Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
Himself

3.11 A Sense of Home Films
Himself (voice) (segment "Mt. Ventoux")

Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman

Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
Director

Sleepless Nights Stories
Director
First Class Flight
Director

3.11 A Sense of Home Films
Director
Mt. Ventoux
Director

My Mars Bar Movie
Director

Keep Singing
Director

Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
Director

My Paris Movie
Director

Lavender
Self

Visionaries
Himself

New York Conversations
Portrait Serie - Jonas Mekas
himself

WTC Haikus
Director

42 One Dream Rush
Director

Lavender
Director of Photography

Lavender
Director

WTC Haikus
Editor

WTC Haikus
Director of Photography

WTC Haikus
Producer
Orchard Street
Director

The Signing
The Perfect Team: The Making of 'On the Bowery'
Self

It Came from Kuchar
Self (archive footage)

Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
Himself
Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR
Director

Doc
Himself

Question a Day

Andy Warhol's Factory People... Inside the Sixties Silver Factory

Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Self

Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Director

Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Director of Photography

Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
Self

Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007
Self

365 Day Project
Self

Sunday December 30, 2007
Self

Friday March 16, 2007
Director

Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007
Director

Monday Jan. 1, 2007
Director

Thursday Jan. 4, 2007: Pedro (São Paulo) or The Right Way To Make Capirinha
Director

365 Day Project
Director

Monday April 16, 2007
Director

Friday May 4, 2007: John Zorn – Cobra Part Two
Director

Sunday December 30, 2007
Director
Saturday Jan. 6
Cinematography
Saturday Jan. 6
Director

Anger Me
Himself
Notes on Marie Menken
Self

Meet The Kuchar Brothers

Who Gets to Call It Art?
Self

The Song of Central Park
Himself (voice)
Nam June Paik: Lessons from the Video Master
Self
Jonas' Independence Speech at the Anniversary of the Filmmaker's Cooperative
Graffiti Museum Bronx, NYC
End of the Millennium Espresso
Imperfect Film
Taping for As I was Moving Ahead…
Kreutzer Sonata

A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Director

Velvet Underground's First Public Appearance
Director

To Barbara Rubin with Love
Director
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Director
Dedication to Matsuo Basho
Director
A Visit to Timothy Leary
Director
John & Yoko Bed-In
Director

Bibi Hansen
Director

Carl Dreyer
Director

Poets at the Living Theater
Director

Andy at Work
Director

Warhol and Maciunas
Director

Robert Frank Films
Director

Cinémathèque Française
Director

Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Cinematography

Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Writer

Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Director

Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Editor

The Destruction Quartet
Director

Monks of Cinema
Director

Moires with Prof. Oster and Salvador Dalí
Director

The Song of Central Park
Director

To John With Love
Director

John & Yoko Bed-In
Director
The Monks of Cinema
Director
A Visit to Timothy Leary
Director
I Am Searching for Nothing
Director
Fluxus on the Hudson
Director
Elia Kazan
Director
Jonas' Independence Speech at the Anniversary of the Filmmaker's Cooperative
Director
Phil Glass Plays for Ralph Steiner's Mechanical Principles
Director
Graffiti Museum Bronx, NYC
Director
End of the Millennium Espresso
Director
Jackie & Lee Fragments of an Unfinished Biography
Director
Imperfect Film
Director
Taping for As I was Moving Ahead…
Director
Allen Ginsberg Sings Blues
Director
Kreutzer Sonata
Director

The Definition of Insanity

Excavating Taylor Mead
Self

Vies et morts d'Andy Warhol
Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch
Director
Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch
Editor

Notes on Utopia
Director
A Letter from Greenpoint
Mekas

Kulturplatz
Self
A Letter from Greenpoint
Director
A Letter from Greenpoint
Writer
A Letter from Greenpoint
Creator
Not in Our Name
himself

Axiom of Choice
Self

Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Director
A Visit To Hans Richter
Editor
A Visit To Hans Richter
Director

Jonas Keeps Shooting Around
Himself

In the Mirror of Maya Deren
Himself

Notes in Lifestyle Margins

Three Friends
Director
Mysteries
Director

A Letter to Penny Arcade

Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten
Director

A Letter to Penny Arcade
Director
Diary Entry: Father and Daughter
Director

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Narrator (voice)
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
Himself

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Director

Silence, Please
Director

Silence, Please
Cinematography

Autobiography of a Man Who Carried his Memory in his Eyes
Director

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Writer

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
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
Director

Mozart & Elvis
Director
Laboratorium Anthology
Himself
Letter to John from Jonas

This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Director

This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Editor

This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Producer
Laboratorium Anthology
Director
Letter to John from Jonas
Director

This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Writer

A Few Notes on Andy's Factory
Director
My Country is Cinema
Self

Song of Avignon
Self

Jonas Mekas in Paris 10/97

Song of Avignon
Director

Patti Smith at Anthology Film Archives Febr. 19, 1998
Director

Song of Avignon
Writer

A Poet from the Lower East Side
Self

Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
Self

Happy Birthday to John
Director

Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
Director

Nam June Paik's Piano Piece
Director

Birth of a Nation
Director

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

Letters from Nowhere
Writer

Letters from Nowhere
Director

Letters from Nowhere
Editor

Michael Snow Up Close
Himself

Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
Himself

Jonas Mekas, Friday 13th October
Himself

Celebrate Cinema 101
Director

Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
Director
Song of The Salamander
Director

Nico Icon
Self

Imperfect Three-Image Films
Director

On My Way to Fujiyama I met..
Director of Photography

On My Way to Fujiyama I met..
Director

Memories of Frankenstein
Director

Jonas in the Desert
Self

Jonas Mekas in Budapest
Himself
The Misfits - 30 Years of Fluxus
Self
Peter Kubelka at the Library of Congress
Director
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)

Award
Himself
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
Director

The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained
Director
Interview and Reading: Jonas Mekas
Himself
Just Visiting This Planet

Quartet Number One

Quartet Number One
Director

Carl G. Jung by Jerome Hill or Lapis Philosophorum
Director

Carl G. Jung by Jerome Hill or Lapis Philosophorum
Editor

Step Across the Border
Butterfly Wing

Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
Self

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships & Intersections
Director

A Walk
Director

A Walk
Camera Operator
Mob of Angels: Baptism
Director

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships & Intersections
Cinematography

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships & Intersections
Editor

Belladonna

Warhol's Cinema 1963-1968: Mirror for the Sixties
Self

He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Self (archive footage)

Invocation: Maya Deren
Himself

Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
Self

He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Director

He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Cinematography

He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Editor

He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Writer

Home Movies 1971-81

Persistence of Vision
Self
Cup/Saucer/Two Dancers/Radio
Director
Street Songs
Director
Erick Hawkins: Excerpts from "Here and Now with Watchers"
Director

Strong Medicine

The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man

Travel Songs
Director

The Song of Stockholm
Director

J. Mekas
Self
No. 18: Mahagonny
Self

Self-Portrait
Himself

Self-Portrait
Director

Robert Haller's Wedding
Director

ORG
Self (archive footage)
Paradise Not Yet Lost
Himself
Paradise Not Yet Lost
Director

Notes for Jerome
Self

Four Shadows

Cinématon
N°1590

In Between
Director

Notes for Jerome
Director

Notes for Jerome
Cinematography

Lost, Lost, Lost
Self

Lost, Lost, Lost
Director

Lost, Lost, Lost
Writer

Lost, Lost, Lost
Cinematography

Lost, Lost, Lost
Editor

Postcard from America

‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen

Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”

Going Home
Himself

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Self

Imagine
Self

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Director

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Cinematography

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Writer

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Editor
Elvis Live at Madison Square Garden
Director
Elvis Live at Madison Square Garden
Camera Operator
Elvis Live at Madison Square Garden
Writer

Journey to Lithuania
Himself
Ricky Leacock Visit, April 15, 1971
Self

Up Your Legs Forever
Self - Legs

The Song of Moscow
Director

Occhio privato sul nuovo mondo

Filmmakers
Himself

Time & Fortune Vietnam Newsreel
Director

Time & Fortune Vietnam Newsreel
Cinematography
Jonas
Himself

Underground New York
Self

A Matter of Baobab

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Self

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Director

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Editor

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Writer

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Cinematography

The Song of Avila
Narrator

Poem Posters
Self

Notes on the Circus
Director

Hare Krishna
Director
The Italian Notebook
Director

The Song of Avila
Director

Notes on the Circus
Editor

The Song of Italy
Director

The Song of Assisi
Director

For Life, Against the War
Director

Notes on the Circus
Director of Photography

Galaxie
Self
The Love Merchant
Lounge Patron
![Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/5yEUYxLQWc71aL7OGrhSnpslsQO.jpg)
Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas
himself

Shooting Guns

Cassis
Director of Photography

Cassis
Editor

Cassis
Director

Report from Millbrook
Director

The Velvet Underground: Psychiatrist's Convention, NYC, 1966
Camera Operator

European Diaries
Sound Designer

Jonas in the Brig
Himself
Dirt

Andy Warhol Screen Tests
Self

Empire
Self (uncredited)

Film Magazine of the Arts
Director

Film Magazine of the Arts
Cinematography

Film Magazine of the Arts
Editor

Empire
Cinematography

Salvador Dalí at Work
Self
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Self

The Brig
Director
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Director

Salvador Dalí at Work
Director

The Brig
Cinematography

Salvador Dalí at Work
Writer
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Editor
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Director of Photography

Salvador Dalí at Work
Cinematography

The Brig
Director of Photography

Hallelujah the Hills
Assistant Director
Diane the Zebra Woman

Senseless
Writer
The Sin of Jesus

Guns of the Trees
Director

Guns of the Trees
Writer

Guns of the Trees
Editor

Guns of the Trees
Cinematography
The Lamb
Self

Viva Jonas!
Himself
Cinématon n°1590 : Jonas Mekas
When
Director
Marcel Hanoun wedding
Director