Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas is known for The Velvet Underground (2021), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972).
Biography
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.
Questions about Jonas Mekas
How many Jonas Mekas films are in the catalogue?
The CineQuiz catalogue has 112 films with Jonas Mekas, from 1961 to 2023.
What is the best rated Jonas Mekas film?
The best rated Jonas Mekas film in the catalogue is The Velvet Underground (2021), rated 6.8.
What was the first Jonas Mekas film?
The first Jonas Mekas film in the catalogue is As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty, from 2000.
Who has Jonas Mekas worked with the most?
In the catalogue, Jonas Mekas shares the most credits with Allen Ginsberg (2 films).
People data: TMDb.
- Awards
- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (2013) · honorary citizen of Biržai District Municipality (2011) · Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (2008) · Doctor Honoris Causa at the Vytautas Magnus University (1997) · Lithuanian National Prize (1996) · Guggenheim Fellowship (1977) · Order for Merits to Lithuania
Known for
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4.4 Empire
1965
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10.0 A Poet from the Lower East Side
1997
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6.6 Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
1990
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6.8 The Velvet Underground
2021
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6.0 Guest
2011
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7.1 Imagine
1972
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4.9 Hare Krishna
1967
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7.8 As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000
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Street Songs
1983
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7.6 9/11: Life Under Attack
2021
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5.1 ORG
1979
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5.0 Jonas Keeps Shooting Around
2002
Trivia
- Also works as
- film director · poet · screenwriter · artist · opinion journalist · cinematographer · director · writer · film critic
- Studied at
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
- Siblings
- Adolfas Mekas
Trivia from Wikidata, licensed CC0.
Full filmography
184 films — 112 in the catalogue
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A Mixtape for Stom
2025
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6.8 Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
2023 · Self (archive footage)
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Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
2022
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Jono Meko antologija
2022 · Jonas Mekas
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6.5 Fragments of Paradise
2022 · Self (archive footage)
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7.8 Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
2022 · Self
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眩暈 Vertigo
2022
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Notes for a Déjà vu
2022
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Back from New York
2021 · Himself
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6.8
The Velvet Underground
2021 · Self
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7.6
9/11: Life Under Attack
2021 · Self
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The Invisible Father
2021 · Self (archive footage)
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Tapes
2020
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6.1 Tiny Tim: King for a Day
2020 · Himself
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Elegy for J.M.
2019
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Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
2019
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Cinema and Sanctuary
2019 · Self
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5.4 Self Discovery for Social Survival
2019 · Narrator (voice)
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6.8 Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
2019 · Self
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6.0 Makeshift (for Mekas)
2019
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Last Interview Film of Jonas Mekas/version 1
2019 · Self
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Keep singing: a tribute to Jonas Mekas
2019
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3 Friends Singing (...in the Desert)
2019
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Jonas Towards Broadway
2019
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7.0 Beyond the Bolex
2018 · Self
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Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
2018
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7.0 George
2018 · Self
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Nitsch
2018
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8.0 I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
2017 · Self
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On the Holy Spirit
2016
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EXPRMNTL
2016 · himself
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I Had Nowhere to Go
2016 · Himself
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Reminiscences of Jonas Mekas
2016 · Self
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Últimas correspondencias
2016 · Self
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10.0 Filmstudio, mon amour
2015 · Sé stesso
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5.0 A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol
2015 · Self
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Behind the Artist: Andy Warhol, an American Prophet
2015
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A Report from Venice
2015
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All About Bolex
2015
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6.0 My Birthday
2014
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6.1 River of Fundament
2014 · Wake Guest
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3.2 Mes entretiens filmés
2013 · Himself
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Jonas in the Jungle
2013 · Self
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6.4 What Is Cinema?
2013 · Self
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6.5 Restos da Vida de um Homem Feliz
2012 · Jonas Mekas
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5.0
Maya Deren, Take Zero
2012 · Himself
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Reminiszenzen aus Deutschland
2012 · Self
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My Mars Bar Movie
2011 · himself
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6.5 3.11 A Sense of Home Films
2011 · Himself (voice) (segment "Mt. Ventoux")
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6.8 Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
2011 · Himself
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7.0 Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
2011 · Himself
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6.0
Guest
2011 · Self
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Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
2011
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Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman
2011
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Portrait Serie - Jonas Mekas
2010 · himself
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New York Conversations
2010
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Lavender
2010 · Self
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6.0 Visionaries
2010 · Himself
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6.5 Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
2009 · Himself
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7.3 It Came from Kuchar
2009 · Self (archive footage)
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The Signing
2009
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The Perfect Team: The Making of 'On the Bowery'
2009 · Self
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Doc
2008 · Himself
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Question a Day
2008
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2.9 Andy Warhol's Factory People... Inside the Sixties Silver Factory
2008
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5.6 Notes on an American Film Director at Work
2008 · Self
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10.0 365 Day Project
2007 · Self
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Sunday December 30, 2007
2007 · Self
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6.7 Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
2007 · Self
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Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007
2007 · Self
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The Song of Central Park
2006 · Himself (voice)
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5.0 Salvador Dalí at Work
2006 · Self
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Jonas' Independence Speech at the Anniversary of the Filmmaker's Cooperative
2006
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Graffiti Museum Bronx, NYC
2006
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End of the Millennium Espresso
2006
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Imperfect Film
2006
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Taping for As I was Moving Ahead…
2006
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Kreutzer Sonata
2006
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8.8 Anger Me
2006 · Himself
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5.4
Notes on Marie Menken
2006 · Self
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6.9 Who Gets to Call It Art?
2006 · Self
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Meet The Kuchar Brothers
2006
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Nam June Paik: Lessons from the Video Master
2006 · Self
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9.5 The Definition of Insanity
2005
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Vies et morts d'Andy Warhol
2005
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7.0 Excavating Taylor Mead
2005 · Self
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A Letter from Greenpoint
2004 · Mekas
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Not in Our Name
2003 · himself
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Axiom of Choice
2003 · Self
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5.0
Jonas Keeps Shooting Around
2002 · Himself
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7.5 In the Mirror of Maya Deren
2002 · Himself
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Notes in Lifestyle Margins
2002
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6.0 A Letter to Penny Arcade
2001
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7.8
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000 · Narrator (voice)
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Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
2000 · Himself
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Letter to John from Jonas
1999
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Laboratorium Anthology
1999 · Himself
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Jonas Mekas in Paris 10/97
1998
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7.5 Song of Avignon
1998 · Self
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My Country is Cinema
1998 · Self
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5.2 Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
1997 · Self
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10.0
A Poet from the Lower East Side
1997 · Self
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Jonas Mekas, Friday 13th October
1996 · Himself
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6.0 Michael Snow Up Close
1996 · Himself
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Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
1996 · Himself
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8.1 Nico Icon
1995 · Self
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6.4 Jonas in the Desert
1994 · Self
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Jonas Mekas in Budapest
1993 · Himself
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7.0
The Misfits - 30 Years of Fluxus
1993 · Self
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6.2 Zefiro Torna ou Cenas da Vida de George Maciunas
1992
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9.0 Award
1992 · Himself
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5.0
Just Visiting This Planet
1991
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7.5 Quartet Number One
1991
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Interview and Reading: Jonas Mekas
1991 · Himself
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7.3 Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
1990 · Self
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6.6
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
1990 · Self
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8.1 Step Across the Border
1990 · Butterfly Wing
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8.0 Belladonna
1989
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8.0 Warhol's Cinema 1963-1968: Mirror for the Sixties
1989 · Self
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6.3 Invocation: Maya Deren
1986 · Himself
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8.4 He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1986 · Self (archive footage)
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Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
1986 · Self
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Home Movies 1971-81
1985
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Persistence of Vision
1984 · Self
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6.3 Strong Medicine
1981
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6.3 The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man
1981
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6.6 Travel Songs
1981 · Self (uncredited)
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6.0
No. 18: Mahagonny
1980 · Self
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9.0 Self-Portrait
1980 · Himself
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J. Mekas
1980 · Self
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5.1
ORG
1979 · Self (archive footage)
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10.0
Paradise Not Yet Lost
1979 · Himself
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4.9 Cinématon
1978 · N°1590
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7.0 Four Shadows
1978
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7.0 Notes for Jerome
1978 · Self
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7.1 Lost, Lost, Lost
1976 · Self
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5.0 Cartoline dall'America
1975
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7.8 ‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen
1974
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Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
1973
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7.1
Imagine
1972 · Self
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5.8 Going Home
1972 · Himself
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6.9 Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
1972 · Self
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8.0 Up Your Legs Forever
1971 · Self - Legs
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Ricky Leacock Visit, April 15, 1971
1971 · Self
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7.0 Journey to Lithuania
1971 · Himself
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Occhio privato sul nuovo mondo
1970
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Filmmakers
1969 · Himself
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7.3 Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
1968 · self
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A Matter of Baobab
1968
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Jonas
1968 · Himself
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Underground New York
1968 · Self
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6.4 The Song of Avila
1967 · Narrator
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Poem Posters
1967 · Self
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![Poster for Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/5yEUYxLQWc71aL7OGrhSnpslsQO.jpg)
Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas
1966 · himself
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10.0 Galaxie
1966 · Self
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4.9
The Love Merchant
1966 · Lounge Patron
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Shooting Guns
1966
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8.0 Andy Warhol Screen Tests
1965 · Self
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7.7
Dirt
1965
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Jonas in the Brig
1965 · Himself
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4.4
Empire
1965 · Self (uncredited)
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7.5
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
1964 · Self
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9.0
Diane the Zebra Woman
1962
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5.6
The Sin of Jesus
1961
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The Lamb
no date · Self
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Viva Jonas!
no date · Himself
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Cinématon n°1590 : Jonas Mekas
no date
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6.0 42 One Dream Rush
2010
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5.3 Sleepless Nights Stories
2011
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Warhol and Maciunas
2006
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Andy at Work
2006
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To John With Love
2006
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5.9 This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
1999
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5.3 Happy Birthday to John
1997
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Street Songs
1983
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4.9
Hare Krishna
1967
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6.7 The Brig
1964
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When
no date
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Phil Glass Plays for Ralph Steiner's Mechanical Principles
2006
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Jackie & Lee Fragments of an Unfinished Biography
2006
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Mozart & Elvis
2000
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6.1 Report from Millbrook
1966
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6.7 Notes on the Circus
1967
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7.3 Guns of the Trees
1961
People data: TMDb.
Cast
