Jonas Mekas
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Jonas Mekas (born December 23, 1922 in the village of Semeniškiai, near Biržai) is a Lithuanian filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema."
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Biography
Prior to the Second World War, Mekas set up a theatre with his brother Adolfas Mekas. After the Second World War, he was held in displaced persons camps, in one of which he studied with a teacher of the Stanislavsky System. The brothers emigrated to the United States in 1949 where they quickly settled into New York's art community. Two weeks after arrival, they bought a Bolex 16-mm camera. As one of avant-garde film's leading visionaries, Mekas helped pioneer the New American Cinema movement. His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals across Europe and America. On 2007 November 10 Jonas Mekas opened Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in Vilnius.
Work
Jonas Mekas studied film with Dada artist and filmmaker Hans Richter. Along with his brother Adolfas, he founded Film Culture magazine in 1955. Mekas has written film reviews for the Village Voice since 1958.
He was a founder of The Film Makers Cooperative (1962) and the Filmmakers' Cinematheque (1964), which eventually developed into Anthology Film Archives (1970). He was part of the New American Cinema, with, in particular, fellow film-maker Lionel Rogosin. He was heavily involved with artists such as Andy Warhol, Nico, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, John Lennon, Salvador Dalí, and fellow Lithuanian George Maciunas.
Though his narrative films and documentaries are still highly regarded, he is best known for his diary films, such as Walden (1969), Lost, Lost, Lost (1975), Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972), and Zefiro Torna (1992). In 2001, he released a five-hour long diary film entitled As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty, assembled by hand from an archive of fifty years worth of recordings of his life. Peter Sempel filmed Jonas Mekas in the film "Jonas in the Desert" (1994).
Mekas expanded the scope of his practice with his later works of multi-monitor installations. Presented as total immersive environments, they offer a new experience of his classic films and have been exhibited at the 51st Venice Biennial, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, and the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center.
Beginning in the fall of 2006, Mekas planned to film 365 short videos for Apple Computer's Video iPod, releasing one a day on his website.
Mekas is also a well-known Lithuanian language poet and has published many of his poems and prose in both Lithuanian and English. He has published many of his journals and diaries including "I Had Nowhere to Go: Diaries, 1944-1954," "Letters from Nowhere," and "Just like a Shadow," as well as his articles on film criticism, theory, and technique.
Awards & Honors
- Guggenheim Fellowship (1966)
- Creative Arts Award, Brandeis University (1977)
- Mel Novikoff Award, San Francisco Film Festival (1989)
- Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, Ministry of Culture, France (1992)
- Lithuanian National Award, Lithuania (1995)
- Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, Kansas City Art Institute (1996)
- Special Tribute, New York Film Critics Circle Awards (1996)
- Pier Paolo Pasolini 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, Universitatis Vytauti Magni, Lithuania (1997)
- Represented Lithuania at the 51st International Art Exhibition Venice Biennial (2006)
- United States National Film Preservation Board selects "Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania" for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry (2006)
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Award (2007)
- Austrian Decoration of Honour for Science and Art (2008)
- Baltic Cultural Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to the field of Arts and Science (2008)
Filmography
- Guns of the Trees (1962)
- Film Magazine of the Arts (1963)
- The Brig (1964)
- Award Presentation to Andy Warhol (1964)
- Report from Millbrook (1964–65)
- Hare Krishna (1966)
- Notes on the Circus (1966)
- Cassis (1966)
- The Italian Notebook (1967)
- Time and Fortune Vietnam Newsreel (1968)
- Walden (Diaries, Notes, and Sketches) (1969)
- Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1971–72)
- Lost, Lost, Lost (1976)
- In Between: 1964–8 (1978)
- Notes for Jerome (1978)
- Paradise Not Yet Lost (also known as Oona's Third Year) (1979)
- Street Songs (1966/1983)
- Cups/Saucers/Dancers/Radio (1965/1983)
- Erik Hawkins: Excerpts from “Here and Now with Watchers”/Lucia Dlugoszewski Performs (1983)
- He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life (1969/1985)
- Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol (1990)
- Mob of Angels/The Baptism (1991)
- Dr. Carl G. Jung or Lapis Philosophorum (1991)
- Quartet Number One (1991)
- Mob of Angels at St. Ann (1992)
- Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (1992)
- The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained (1992)
- He Travels. In Search of... (1994)
- Imperfect 3-Image Films (1995)
- On My Way to Fujiyama I Met… (1995)
- Happy Birthday to John (1996)
- Memories of Frankenstein (1996)
- Birth of a Nation (1997)
- Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit (1997)
- Letter from Nowhere – Laiskas is Niekur N.1 (1997)
- Symphony of Joy (1997)
- Song of Avignon (1998)
- Laboratorium (1999)
- Autobiography of a Man Who Carried his Memory in his Eyes (2000)
- This Side of Paradise (1999)
- Notes on Andy's Factory (1999)
- Mysteries (1966–2001)
- As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
- Remedy for Melancholy (2000)
- Ein Maerchen (2001)
- Williamsburg, Brooklyn (1950–2003)
- Mozart & Wein and Elvis (2000)
- Travel Songs (1967–1981) n
- Dedication to Leger (2003)
- Notes on Utopia (2003) 30 min,
- Letter from Greenpoint (2004)
See also
