Jonas Mekas (; ; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a

Lithuanian-American Lithuanian Americans refer to Americans, American citizens and residents of Lithuanians, Lithuanian descent or were born in Lithuania. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in its population ...

filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas's work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwide. Mekas was active in New York City, where he co-founded

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and film distribution, exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent film, independent, experimental film, ex ...

The Film-Makers' Cooperative The Film-Makers' Cooperative (a.k.a. The New American Cinema Group, Inc.) is an artist-run, non-profit organization founded in 1961 in New York City by Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Shirley Clarke, Stan Brakhage, Jack Smith (film director), Jack Smit ...

, and the journal ''

Film Culture ''Film Culture'' was an American film magazine started by Adolfas Mekas and his brother Jonas Mekas in 1954. History The publication's headquarters were in New York City. Best known for exploring the avant-garde cinema in depth (especial ...

''. He was also the first film critic for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''. In the 1960s, Mekas launched anti-censorship campaigns in defense of the LGBTQ-themed films of

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

and Jack Smith, garnering support from cultural figures including

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American writer, journalist and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least ...

, and

Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...

. Mekas mentored and supported many prominent artists and filmmakers, including Ken Jacobs, Peter Bogdanovich, Chantal Akerman, Richard Foreman,

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

, Barbara Rubin,

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

, and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

. He helped launch the writing careers of the critics

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Kat ...

, Amy Taubin, and J. Hoberman. During World War II, Mekas edited and contributed to two far-right, collaborationist newspapers under the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, the significance of which has been debated by historians. His major films include ''The Brig'' (1964), ''Walden: Diaries Notes and Sketches'' (1968), and ''Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania'' (1972). His early poetry collection ''Idylls of Semeniskiai'' (1948) is a celebrated work in his native Lithuania. In 2024, the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

dedicated its annual Poetry Day to Mekas, following past editions honoring figures such as

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

and John Giorno. The event, which included readings, screenings, and performances celebrating his literary and cinematic legacy, was held across multiple cities, including Paris, Lviv, Seoul, Los Angeles, Vilnius, and Tehran.

Early life

Mekas was born in Semeniškiai, the son of Elzbieta (Jašinskaitė) and Povilas Mekas on December 24, 1922. As a teenager, he attended the Biržai Gymnasium in Biržai, Lithuania. From 1941 to 1942, living under Nazi occupation, he co-edited and published in the culture section of '' Naujosios Biržų žinios'', founded by the far-right, anti-semitic

Lithuanian Activist Front The Lithuanian Activist Front or LAF () was a Lithuanian underground resistance organization established in 1940 after the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940), Soviets occupied Lithuania. Its goal was to free Lithuanian Soviet Socialist ...

. From 1943 to 1944, he co-edited and published in the culture section of '' Panevėžio apygardos balsas'', a weekly local newspaper published by the fascist . In 1944, Mekas left Lithuania with his brother, Adolfas Mekas. They attempted to reach neutral Switzerland by means of Vienna, with fabricated student papers arranged by their uncle. Their train was stopped in Germany, and they were both imprisoned in a labor camp in

Elmshorn Elmshorn (; ) is a town in the district of Pinneberg in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It is 30 km north of Hamburg on the small river Krückau, a tributary of the Elbe, and with about 50,000 inhabitants is the sixth-largest town in the sta ...

, a suburb of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, for eight months. The brothers escaped and hid on a farm near the Danish border for two months until the end of the war. After the war, Mekas lived in displaced persons' camps in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

and

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. From 1946 to 1948, he studied philosophy at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

. By the end of 1949 his brother and he had both secured sponsorship through a job in Chicago and emigrated to the United States. When they arrived, the two decided to settle in Williamsburg,

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Two weeks after his arrival, he borrowed money to buy his first Bolex 16mm camera and began recording moments of his life. He discovered avant-garde film at venues such as Amos Vogel's pioneering Cinema 16, and he began curating avant-garde film screenings at Gallery East on Avenue A and

Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson ...

and at the Film Forum series at Carl Fisher Auditorium on 57th Street.

Career

In 1954, Mekas and his brother Adolfas founded the journal ''

'', and in 1958 he began writing his "Movie Journal" column for ''The Village Voice''. In 1962, he co-founded The Film-Makers' Cooperative, and in 1964 the Filmmakers' Cinematheque, which eventually became Anthology Film Archives, one of the world's largest and most important repositories of avant-garde film. Along with Lionel Rogosin, he was part of the New American Cinema movement. He was a close collaborator with artists such as Marie Menken,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Nico Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

, Yoko Ono,

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

, and fellow Lithuanian

George Maciunas George Maciunas (; ; November 8, 1931 Kaunas – May 9, 1978 Boston, Massachusetts) was a Lithuanian American artist, art historian, and art organizer who was the founding member and central coordinator of Fluxus, an international community of ...

. After leaving ''The Voice'' over an editorial dispute, for a short time he wrote a column for The '' SoHo Weekly News.'' Mekas gave the film '' Heaven and Earth Magic'' its title in 1964/65. In 1964, Mekas was arrested on obscenity charges for showing '' Flaming Creatures'' (1963) and

's '' Un Chant d'Amour'' (1950). He launched a campaign against the censorship board, and for the next few years continued to exhibit films at the Filmmakers' Cinematheque, the

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...

, and the Gallery of Modern Art. From 1964 to 1967, he organized the New American Cinema Expositions, which toured Europe and South America, and in 1966 joined the 80 Wooster Fluxhouse Coop. Jonas Mekas LOC

In 1970, Anthology Film Archives opened on 425 Lafayette Street as a film museum, screening space, and library, with Mekas as its director. Mekas, along with

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American experimental filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage cr ...

, Ken Kelman, Peter Kubelka, James Broughton, and P. Adams Sitney, began the ambitious Essential Cinema project at Anthology Film Archives to establish a canon of important cinematic works. Mekas's legs appeared in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's experimental film '' Up Your Legs Forever'' (1971). As a filmmaker, Mekas's own output ranged from his early narrative film ''Guns of the Trees (''1961) to "diary films" such as ''

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is an 1854 book by American transcendentalism, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. T ...

'' (1969); ''Lost, Lost, Lost'' (1975), '' Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania'' (1972), ''Zefiro Torna'' (1992), and '' As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty'' (2000), which have been screened at festivals and museums around the world. Mekas' diary films offered a new perspective to the genre and portrayed the cinematic avant-garde scene of the 1960s. Mekas expanded the scope of his practice with his later works of multi-monitor installations, sound immersion pieces and "frozen-film" prints. Together they offer a new experience of his classic films and a novel presentation of his more recent video work. His work has been exhibited at the 51st

Venice Biennial The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, the Ludwig Museum, the

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...

, the Jewish Museum, and the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center. In 2007, Mekas released one film every day on his website, a project he entitled "The 365 Day Project." The online diary is still ongoing on Jonas Mekas's official website. It was celebrated in 2015 with a show titled "The Internet Saga" which was curated by Francesco Urbano Ragazzi at Palazzo Foscari Contarini on the occasion of the 56th Venice Biennale of Visual Arts. Beginning in the 1970s, Mekas taught film courses at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Additionally, Mekas was a writer and published his poems and prose in Lithuanian, French, German, and English. His work has been translated into English by the Lithuanian-American poet Vyt Bakaitis in such collections as ''Daybooks: 1970-1972'' (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2003) and a bilingual anthology of modern Lithuanian verse, ''Gyvas atodūsis/Breathing Free, poems'' (Lietuvos, 2001). Mekas published many of his journals and diaries, including ''I Had Nowhere to Go: Diaries, 1944–1954'' and ''Letters from Nowhere'', as well as articles on film criticism, theory, and technique. In 2007, the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center was opened in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. One of Mekas's last exhibitions, "Notes from Downtown," took place at James Fuentes Gallery on the Lower East Side in 2018. Mekas's last work, ''Requiem,'' premiered posthumously at The Shed in New York City on November 1, 2019. The 84-minute video was commissioned by The Shed and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. It screened in tandem with a performance of Verdi's ''Requiem'', conducted by Teodor Currentzis and performed by the musicAeterna orchestra. In 2018, Ina Navazelskis, an oral historian at the National Institute for Holocaust Documentation,

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

interviewed Mekas for their Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive. There, he discussed his memories of World War II "Jonas Mekas: The Camera Was Always Running", the filmmaker's first retrospective in the United States, was organized by Guest Curator Kelly Taxter and on view at the Jewish Museum in the spring of 2022. German filmmaker Peter Sempel has made four films about Mekas' works and life, ''Jonas in the Desert'' (1991), ''Jonas at the Ocean'' (2004), '' Jonas in the Jungle'' (2013), and ''Jonas in the Fields'' (2021).

Personal life

Mekas married Hollis Melton in 1974. They had two children, a daughter, Oona, and a son, Sebastian. His family is featured in Jonas's films, including ''Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man'' and ''As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty''. Mekas died at his home in Brooklyn on January 23, 2019, at the age of 96. Mekas is the subject of a documentary, ''Fragments of Paradise'', which premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. The film received the award for Best Documentary on Cinema at the Festival.

Controversy over World War II activities

Mekas long maintained that, while working for local newspapers, he also clandestinely transcribed

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

broadcasts in support of the underground. In 2018, an article in ''

the New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'' by historian Michael Casper challenged Mekas's versions of his wartime activities. Casper claims that Mekas participated "in an underground movement in Biržai that supported the 1941 Nazi invasion of Soviet Lithuania" and worked for "two ultranationalist and Nazi propaganda newspapers, until he fled Lithuania in 1944." Casper noted that Mekas's publications in these newspapers were not anti-Semitic. At the time, art critic and historian

Barry Schwabsky Barry Schwabsky (b. Paterson, New Jersey, in 1957) is an American art critic, art historian and poet. He has taught at the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, New York University, Yale University, and Goldsmiths College, among others. Ar ...

penned a letter to the editor criticizing Casper's essay. He and Casper had an exchange of letters in the ''New York Review of Books''. The

's website biography of Mekas maintains that he participated in both the anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi undergrounds. Following the 2022 exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York, Casper published an article entitled "World War II Revisionism at the Jewish Museum" in '' Jewish Currents''. There, he argued that the "art world at large remains deeply invested in the story of Mekas the anti-Nazi", thus perpetuating revisionism not only erasing his roles, but casting him as an anti-Nazi hero. In an article for the

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the "Associated Press of the Jewish media", JTA serves Jewish and non-Jewish news ...

on Casper's charges against the Jewish Museum, journalist Asaf Shalev also pointed out that two different memos were circulated among the museum employees to dismiss Casper's article. Kelly Taxter, the guest curator of the exhibit, responded to Casper's historical research by saying that "the tone of these emails is often aggressive." This was based on emails shared by the Mekas family, which Shalev also had access to, although Shalev wrote that "Nothing on there looked to me like Casper was bullying Mekas or that Mekas get bullied." Sovietologist Robert van Voren voiced criticisms of Casper's articles. Saulius Sužiedėlis argued, "The review format of the articles allowed Casper to present judgements without the burden of buttressing his allegations with relevant sources and requisite detail. The resulting narrative turns Jonas Mekas's life as a young man into something that it was not." The film scholars J. Hoberman and B. Ruby Rich have shown support for Casper's findings. An article in ''

Film Quarterly ''Film Quarterly'' (FQ), published by University of California Press, is a journal devoted to the study of film, television, and visual media. When FQ was launched in 1945 (then called ''Hollywood Quarterly''), it was considered "the first serious ...

'', B. Ruby Rich stated that, upon Casper's article, "The wagons started circling immediately to protect a sacred figure of the avant-garde." In 2023, both Casper and Sužiedėlis shared their research and perspectives on Mekas in separate interviews with Lithuanian journalist Karolis Vyšniauskas.

Awards and honors

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

(1977) * Creative Arts Award,

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

(1977) * Mel Novikoff Award, San Francisco Film Festival (1992) * Lithuanian National Prize, Lithuania (1995) * Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa,

Kansas City Art Institute The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. The institute ...

(1996) * Special Tribute, New York Film Critics Circle Awards (1996) *

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

Award, Paris (1997) * International Documentary Film Association Award, Los Angeles (1997) * Governors Award from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine (1997) * Atrium Doctoris Honoris Causa, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania (1997) * Represented Lithuania at the 51st International Art Exhibition

(2005) * United States National Film Preservation Board selects '' Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania'' for preservation in the Library of Congress'

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

(2006) *

Los Angeles Film Critics Association The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles–based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organi ...

's Award (2006) *

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

(2008) * Baltic Cultural Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to the field of Arts and Science (2008) * Life Achievement Award at the second annual Rob Pruitt's Art Awards (2010) * George Eastman Honorary Scholar Award (2011) * 'Carry your Light and Believe' Award, Ministry of Culture, Lithuania (2012) * Commandeur de l'

Ordre des Arts et Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order (distinction), order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Ministry of Culture (France), Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President of France, President Cha ...

, Ministry of Culture, France (2013)

Filmography

Sources: *'' Guns of the Trees'' (1962) - 1 hour 15 minutes *''Film Magazine of the Arts'' (1963) - 20 minutes *'' The Brig'' (1964) - 1 hour 8 minutes *''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' (1964) - 8 hours 5 minutes *''Award Presentation to Andy Warhol'' (1964) - 12 minutes *''Report from Millbrook'' (1964–65) - 12 minutes *''Hare Krishna'' (1966) - 4 minutes *''Notes on the Circus'' (1966) - 12 minutes *''Cassis'' (1966) - 4 minutes *''The Italian Notebook'' (1967) - 15 minutes *''Time and Fortune Vietnam Newsreel'' (1968) - 4 minutes *''

'' (''Diaries, Notes, and Sketches'') (1969) - 3 hours *'' Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania'' (1971–72) - 1 hour 22 minutes *''Lost, Lost, Lost'' (1976) - 2 hours 58 minutes *''In Between: 1964–8'' (1978) - 52 minutes *''Notes for Jerome'' (1978) - 45 minutes *''Paradise Not Yet Lost'' (also known as ''Oona's Third Year'') (1979) - 1 hour 36 minutes *''Street Songs'' (1966/1983) - 10 minutes *''Cups/Saucers/Dancers/Radio'' (1965/1983) - 23 minutes *''Erik Hawkins: Excerpts from "Here and Now with Watchers"/Lucia Dlugoszewski Performs'' (1983) - 6 minutes *''He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life'' (1969/1986) - 2 hours 30 minutes *''A Walk'' (1990) - 58 minutes, video *''Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol'' (1990) - 35 minutes *''Mob of Angels/The Baptism'' (1991) - 1 hour, video *''Dr. Carl G. Jung or Lapis Philosophorum'' (1991) - 29 minutes *''Quartet Number One'' (1991) - 8 minutes *''Mob of Angels at St. Ann'' (1992) - 1 hour, video *''Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas'' (1992) - 34 minutes *''The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained'' (1992) - 3 hours 48 minutes *''He Travels. In Search of...'' (1994) - 2 hours *''Imperfect 3-Image Films'' (1995) - 6 minutes *''On My Way to Fujiyama I Met...'' (1995) - 25 minutes *''Happy Birthday to John'' (1996) - 24 minutes *''Memories of Frankenstein'' (1996) - 1 hour 35 minutes *''Birth of a Nation'' (1997) - 1 hour 25 minutes *''Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit'' (1997) - 1 hour 7 minutes *''Letter from Nowhere – Laiskas is Niekur N.1'' (1997) - 1 hour 15 minutes *''Silence, Please'' (2000) - 6 minutes, video *''Requiem for a Manual Typewriter'' (2000) - 19 minutes, video *''Remedy for Melancholy'' (2000) - 20 minutes *''Symphony of Joy'' (1997) - 1 hour 15 minutes *''Song of Avignon'' (1998) - 5 minutes *''Laboratorium'' (1999) - 1 hour 3 minutes *''Autobiography of a Man Who Carried His Memory in His Eyes'' (2000) - 53 minutes *''This Side of Paradise'' (1999) - 35 minutes *''Notes on Andy's Factory'' (1999) - 1 hour 4 minutes *''Mysteries'' (1966–2001) - 34 minutes *'' As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty'' (2000) - 4 hours 48 minutes *''Ein Maerchen'' (2001) - 6 minutes, video *''Letter to Penny Arcade'' (2001) - 14 minutes 33 seconds, video *''Williamsburg, Brooklyn'' (1950–2003) - 15 minutes *''Ar Buvo Karas?'' (2002) - 2 hours 28 minutes *''Travel Songs 1967-1981'' (2003) - 28 minutes *''Father and Daughter'' (2005) - 4 minutes 30 seconds, video *''Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch'' (2005) - 58 minutes, film and video *''First Forty'' (2006) - urations vary*''365 Day Project'' (2007) - urations vary for each of the 365 short films*''WTC Haikus'' (2010) - 14 minutes *''Sleepless Nights Stories'' (Premiere at the Berlinale 2011) - 1 hour 54 minutes *''My Paris Movie'' (2011) - 2 hours 39 minutes *''My Mars Bar Movie'' (2011) - 1 hour 27 minutes *''Correspondences: José Luis Guerin and Jonas Mekas'' (2011) - 1 hour 40 minutes *''Re: George Maciunas and Fluxus'' (2011) - 1 hour 27 minutes *''Mont Ventoux'' (2011) - 3 minutes *''Happy Easter Ride'' (2012) - 18 minutes *''Reminiszenzen aus Deutschland'' (2012) - 25 minutes *''Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man'' (2012) - 1 hour 8 minutes *''Requiem'' (2019) - 1 hour 24 minutes

References

External links

Jonas Mekas' website

The Anthology Film Archives

Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center

Interview with Interview Magazine

Interview with 3:AM Magazine

Jonas Mekas "The Internet Saga", Venice

Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
* Jonas Meka
interview
with Our Culture Mag * Jonas Mekas in conversation wit
the ''Brooklyn Rail''

Jonas Mekas tells his life story at Web of Stories
* "To Barbara Rubin With Love" by Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas addresses his war time activities

Jonas Mekas at the Serpentine Gallery 2012Jonas Mekas's Papers
are housed at University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mekas, Jonas 1922 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century Lithuanian poets 21st-century American male writers 21st-century Lithuanian writers American experimental filmmakers Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Film directors from New York City Fluxus Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni Lithuanian artists Lithuanian expatriates in Austria Lithuanian expatriates in Germany Lithuanian experimental filmmakers Lithuanian film directors Lithuanian male poets Lithuanian refugees in the United States Lithuanian resistance members Lithuanian writers People from Panevėžys County People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Village Voice people Writers from Brooklyn SoHo Weekly News people

Early life

Career

Personal life

Controversy over World War II activities

Awards and honors

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links