Jonas Mekas: The Avant-Garde Filmmaker and His Cinema of Happiness
Francesco Urbano Ragazzi honors Jonas Mekas, the avant-garde filmmaker originally from Lithuania, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 96. Mekas, born in 1922, was taken prisoner by Nazis at 22 and endured months in a labor camp in Elmshorn. Following the war, he resided in refugee camps until relocating to New York in 1949. He was a co-founder of Film Culture magazine, contributed to the Village Voice, and collaborated with Andy Warhol on film screenings. A pivotal figure in both the Fluxus movement and the Beat Generation, Mekas established the Film-Makers' Cooperative and Anthology Film Archives. He created over 100 "diary films," initiated the 365 Day Project at 85, and is celebrated as a joyful spirit and an early internet artist.
Key facts
- Jonas Mekas was born in a rural Lithuanian village in 1922.
- He was captured by Nazis at age 22 while trying to reach Vienna with his brother Adolfas.
- He spent months in Elmshorn labor camp and later lived in refugee camps in Wiesbaden and Kassel.
- In 1949, a UN program brought him to New York, where he bought a Bolex camera.
- He co-founded Film Culture magazine and wrote for the Village Voice.
- He taught Andy Warhol filmmaking basics and filmed the Empire State Building for him.
- He founded the Film-Makers' Cooperative and Anthology Film Archives.
- His 365 Day Project at age 85 involved filming one film per day for a year.
Entities
Artists
- Jonas Mekas
- Adolfas Mekas
- Andy Warhol
- Yoko Ono
- George Maciunas
- Jack Smith
- Jean Genet
- Peter Kubelka
- Harmony Korine
- Madonna
- Jackie Kennedy
- Oona Mekas
- Sebastian Mekas
- Francesco Urbano Ragazzi
Institutions
- Film Culture
- Village Voice
- Film-Makers' Cooperative
- Anthology Film Archives
- New American Cinema Group
- Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Seoul (MMCA)
- Burger King
- Reykjavik Film Festival
- Apalazzo Gallery
- United Nations
- Artribune
Locations
- Lithuania
- Vienna
- Elmshorn
- Sweden
- Wiesbaden
- Kassel
- New York
- Venice
- Seoul
- South Korea