Cast & creator
Jonas Mekas
Best known for Kulturplatz, Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections, Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Jonas Mekas (24 December 1922 - 23 January 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.
400
film credits
1
television credits
171
1961–2025 · acting roles
6.8
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
★ 6.0Kulturplatz
Self · 2004
★ 6.6Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Self · 1990
★ 6.6Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Director · 1990
★ 6.6Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Editor · 1990
★ 6.6Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Director of Photography · 1990
Across film & television
Filmography (401)
Showing 401 of 401 credits
Kulturplatz
Self
2004Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Self
1990Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Director
1990Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Editor
1990Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections
Director of Photography
1990
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
Self (archive footage)
2023
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
Self
1990
The Definition of Insanity
2005
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Narrator (voice)
2000As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Director
2000As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Writer
2000As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Cinematography
2000As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Editor
2000
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Self
1968Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
self
1968Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Director
1968Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Writer
1968Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Editor
1968Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Cinematography
1968
9/11: Life Under Attack
Self
2021
Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
Self
2022
The Velvet Underground
Self
2021
Cinématon
N°1590
1978
Imagine
Self
1972
42 One Dream Rush
Director
2010
Fragments of Paradise
Self (archive footage)
2022
365 Day Project
Self
2007365 Day Project
Director
2007
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Self
2008Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Director
2008Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Director of Photography
2008
Carl Dreyer
Director
2006
It Came from Kuchar
Self (archive footage)
2009
3.11 A Sense of Home Films
Himself (voice) (segment "Mt. Ventoux")
20113.11 A Sense of Home Films
Director
2011
ORG
Self (archive footage)
1979
Hare Krishna
Director
1967
Jonas in the Desert
Self
1994
A Poet from the Lower East Side
Self
1997
Mozart & Elvis
Director
2000
Birth of a Nation
Self
1997Birth of a Nation
Director
1997Birth of a Nation
Editor
1997Birth of a Nation
Cinematography
1997Birth of a Nation
Writer
1997
Andy Warhol Screen Tests
Self
1965
20 Little Films
Director
2012
For Life, Against the War
Director
1967
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Self (archive footage)
1986He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Director
1986He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Cinematography
1986He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Editor
1986He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Writer
1986
J. Mekas
Self
1980
River of Fundament
Wake Guest
2014
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Himself
2011
Viva Jonas!
Himself
Street Songs
Director
1983
Home Movies 1971-81
1985
Doc
Himself
2008
Guest
Self
2011
The Brig
Director
1964The Brig
Cinematography
1964The Brig
Director of Photography
1964
‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen
1974The Sin of Jesus
1961
George: The Story of George Maciunas and Fluxus
Self
2018
The Velvet Underground: Psychiatrist's Convention, NYC, 1966
Camera Operator
1966
Warhol's Cinema 1963-1968: Mirror for the Sixties
Self
1989
Up Your Legs Forever
Self - Legs
1971
Tiny Tim: King for a Day
Himself
2020
This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Self
1999This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Director
1999This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Editor
1999This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Producer
1999This Side of Paradise: Fragments of An Unfinished Biography
Writer
1999
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
Self
2007
Persistence of Vision
Self
1984
Empire
Self (uncredited)
1965Empire
Cinematography
1965
To John With Love
Director
2006
Andy Warhol's Factory People... Inside the Sixties Silver Factory
2008
Notes in Lifestyle Margins
2002
John & Yoko Bed-In
Director
2006
Tapes
2020Tapes
Director
2020
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
Himself
2002
What Is Cinema?
Self
2013
European Diaries
Sound Designer
1966Orchard Street
Director
2010
A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol
Self
2015
Nitsch
2018
Happy Birthday to John
Director
1997
Senseless
Writer
1962
Guns of the Trees
Director
1961Guns of the Trees
Writer
1961Guns of the Trees
Cinematography
1961Guns of the Trees
Editor
1961
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
2018
A Walk
Director
1990A Walk
Camera Operator
1990
WTC Haikus
Director
2010WTC Haikus
Director of Photography
2010WTC Haikus
Producer
2010WTC Haikus
Editor
2010Just Visiting This Planet
1991
A Mixtape for Stom
2025
Poets at the Living Theater
Director
2006A Cardinal
Director
2014
My Conversations on Film
Himself
2013
Excavating Taylor Mead
Self
2005
Laboratorium Anthology
Himself
1999Laboratorium Anthology
Director
1999Laboratorium Anthology
Camera Operator
1999
Salvador Dalí at Work
Self
2006Salvador Dalí at Work
Director
2006Salvador Dalí at Work
Writer
2006Salvador Dalí at Work
Cinematography
2006
Filmmakers
Himself
1969
Últimas correspondencias
Self
2016Últimas correspondencias
Director
2016
The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man
1981
Strong Medicine
1981
Jackie & Lee Fragments of an Unfinished Biography
Director
2006
Vies et morts d'Andy Warhol
2005
Step Across the Border
Butterfly Wing
1990Nam June Paik: Lessons from the Video Master
Self
2006
Cassis
Director of Photography
1966Cassis
Editor
1966Cassis
Director
1966
Reminiscences of Jonas Mekas
Self
2016
Velvet Underground's First Public Appearance
Director
2006
Andy at Work
Director
2006
Going Home
Himself
1972
Cinémathèque Française
Director
2006
Monday Jan. 1, 2007
Director
2007
Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
1973When
Director
Nico Icon
Self
1995Last Interview Film of Jonas Mekas/version 1
Self
2019Diane the Zebra Woman
1962
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
2006
Robert Haller's Wedding
Director
1980
I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
Self
2017I Don't Know Which Tree It Comes From that Fragrance
Director
2017
In Between
Director
1978Notes on Marie Menken
Self
2006
Jonas in the Brig
Himself
1965
Shooting Guns
1966
A Letter to Penny Arcade
2001A Letter to Penny Arcade
Director
2001
Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
Self
2019Erick Hawkins: Excerpts from "Here and Now with Watchers"
Director
1983
Jonas Keeps Shooting Around
Himself
2002No. 18: Mahagonny
Self
1980Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Self
1964Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Director
1964Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Director of Photography
1964Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Editor
1964
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
Self
1997Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
Director
1997Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
Cinematography
1997Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit
Editor
1997
Who Gets to Call It Art?
Self
2006
Lost, Lost, Lost
Self
1976Lost, Lost, Lost
Director
1976Lost, Lost, Lost
Writer
1976Lost, Lost, Lost
Cinematography
1976Lost, Lost, Lost
Editor
1976
Film Magazine of the Arts
Director
1965Film Magazine of the Arts
Editor
1965Film Magazine of the Arts
Cinematography
1965Maya Deren, Take Zero
Himself
2012
Notes on the Circus
Director
1967Notes on the Circus
Editor
1967Notes on the Circus
Director of Photography
1967
Requiem
Director
2019
Elegy for J.M.
2019
A Few Notes on Andy's Factory
Director
1999
Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
2011Re: Maciunas and Fluxus
Director
2011
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Director
2003
Bibi Hansen
Director
2006
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
1992Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
Director
1992Jonas
Himself
1968
Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman
2011
Carl G. Jung by Jerome Hill or Lapis Philosophorum
Director
1991Carl G. Jung by Jerome Hill or Lapis Philosophorum
Editor
1991Crickets
Director
2017
Self Discovery for Social Survival
Narrator (voice)
2019Self Discovery for Social Survival
Writer
2019
The Song of Italy
Director
1967
On My Way to Fujiyama I met..
Director of Photography
1995On My Way to Fujiyama I met..
Director
1995Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
2022
Scenes from the Life of Raimund Abraham
Director
2015
Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
Self
1986
Silence, Please
Director
2000Silence, Please
Cinematography
2000The Lamb
Self
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Self
1972Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Director
1972Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Cinematography
1972Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Writer
1972Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
Editor
1972
Time & Fortune Vietnam Newsreel
Director
1969Time & Fortune Vietnam Newsreel
Cinematography
1969
Vertigo
2022
Notes for Jerome
Self
1978Notes for Jerome
Director
1978Notes for Jerome
Cinematography
1978Notes for Jerome
Writer
1978
Patti Smith at Anthology Film Archives Febr. 19, 1998
Director
2006
My Mars Bar Movie
himself
2011My Mars Bar Movie
Director
2011A Letter from Greenpoint
Mekas
2004A Letter from Greenpoint
Director
2004A Letter from Greenpoint
Writer
2004A Letter from Greenpoint
Creator
2004
Notes for a Déjà vu
2022
Keep singing: a tribute to Jonas Mekas
2019
Underground New York
Self
1968
Self-Portrait
Himself
1980Self-Portrait
Director
1980
Filmstudio, mon amour
Sé stesso
2015
The Song of Moscow
Director
1971
Sleepless Nights Stories
Director
2011
Belladonna
1989
Jonas Mekas in Budapest
Himself
1993
The Song of Assisi
Director
1967Dirt
1965
Jonas Mekas in Paris 10/97
1998The Misfits - 30 Years of Fluxus
Self
1993
Cinématon n°1590 : Jonas Mekas
Yoko Ono Lennon's Courage Awards 2016: Laurie Anderson, Mohammad el Gharani, Eileen Boxer, RoseLee Goldberg, LoftOpera
Director
20163 Friends Singing (...in the Desert)
2019
Jonas Mekas Anthology
Jonas Mekas
2022
The Song of Stockholm
Director
1981
Visionaries
Himself
2010
The Song of Avila
Narrator
1967The Song of Avila
Director
1967
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
Himself
2000Requiem for a Manual Typewriter
Director
2000
Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007
Self
2007Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007
Director
2007
My Bolexes
Director
2015My Bolexes
Cinematography
2015Jonas in the Jungle
Self
2013Song of The Salamander
Director
1996
Behind the Artist: Andy Warhol, an American Prophet
2015
Song of Avignon
Self
1998Song of Avignon
Director
1998Song of Avignon
Writer
1998Song of Avignon
Director of Photography
1998Song of Avignon
Editor
1998
Beyond the Bolex
Self
2018A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Director
2006Imperfect Film
2006Imperfect Film
Director
2006
I Had Nowhere to Go
Himself
2016
New Seasons Movement IV
Director
2015Mt. Ventoux
Director
2011Mysteries
Director
2002
Hallelujah the Hills
Assistant Director
1963
Back from New York
Himself
2021
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten
Director
2001![Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w1280/5yEUYxLQWc71aL7OGrhSnpslsQO.jpg?width=1200)
Screen Test [ST211]: Jonas Mekas
himself
1966
Jonas Mekas, Friday 13th October
Himself
1996
From the diaries of a cinema maniac
Director
2017A Visit to Timothy Leary
Director
2006
A Matter of Baobab
1968
A Report from Venice
2015A Report from Venice
Director
2015
My Birthday
2014My Birthday
Director
2014
Three Friends
Director
2002Dedication to Matsuo Basho
Director
2006
Friday March 16, 2007
Director
2007
Nam June Paik's Piano Piece
Director
2006
Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
Jonas Mekas
2012Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man
Director
2012
Thursday Jan. 4, 2007: Pedro (São Paulo) or The Right Way To Make Capirinha
Director
2007
Autobiography of a Man Who Carried his Memory in his Eyes
Director
2000Portrait Serie - Jonas Mekas
himself
2010
Monday April 16, 2007
Director
2007A Visit To Hans Richter
Director
2003A Visit To Hans Richter
Editor
2003
Sunday December 30, 2007
Self
2007Sunday December 30, 2007
Director
2007
A Visit to Timothy Leary
Director
2006
All About Bolex
2015All About Bolex
Director
2015All About Bolex
Camera Operator
2015Interview and Reading: Jonas Mekas
Himself
1991
The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained
Director
1992
Elia Kazan
Director
2006
Keep Singing
Director
2011
Phil Glass Plays for Ralph Steiner's Mechanical Principles
Director
2006From the Notebooks of a Cinema Maniac
Director
2017
Occhio privato sul nuovo mondo
1970Ricky Leacock Visit, April 15, 1971
Self
1971
Question a Day
2008Diary Entry: Father and Daughter
Director
2001
I Leave Chelsea Hotel
Director
2013
On the Holy Spirit
2016On the Holy Spirit
Director
2016
New York Conversations
2010
The Invisible Father
Self (archive footage)
2021
Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
Himself
2009My Country is Cinema
Self
1998
The Song of Central Park
Himself (voice)
2006The Song of Central Park
Director
2006
Anger Me
Himself
2006
Makeshift (for Mekas)
2019
Reminiscences from Germany
Self
2012Reminiscences from Germany
Director
2012
Imperfect Three-Image Films
Director
1995
Poem Posters
Self
1967
Warhol and Maciunas
Director
2006
Travel Songs
Self (uncredited)
1981Travel Songs
Director
1981
Allen Ginsberg Sings Blues
Director
2006
Moires with Prof. Oster and Salvador Dalí
Director
2006
Letters from Nowhere
Director
1997Letters from Nowhere
Writer
1997Letters from Nowhere
Editor
1997Cup/Saucer/Two Dancers/Radio
Director
1983
Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
Himself
2011Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
Director
2011
Jonas' Independence Speech at the Anniversary of the Filmmaker's Cooperative
2006Jonas' Independence Speech at the Anniversary of the Filmmaker's Cooperative
Director
2006Jonas Towards Broadway
2019John & Yoko Bed-In
Director
2006
Taping for As I was Moving Ahead…
2006Taping for As I was Moving Ahead…
Director
2006Not in Our Name
himself
2003
The Love Merchant
Lounge Patron
1966
Invocation: Maya Deren
Himself
1986
The Monks of Cinema
Director
2006
Postcard from America
1975Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch
Director
2005Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch
Editor
2005
Fluxus on the Hudson
Director
2006Marcel Hanoun wedding
Director
Memories of Frankenstein
Director
1995
To Barbara Rubin with Love
Director
2006
Report from Millbrook
Director
1966
Notes on Utopia
Director
2005Paradise Not Yet Lost
Himself
1979Paradise Not Yet Lost
Director
1979
Friday May 4, 2007: John Zorn – Cobra Part Two
Director
2007Mob of Angels: Baptism
Director
1990
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Director
2006
Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
2019
Destruction of the Berlin Wall
Director
2006
Michael Snow Up Close
Himself
1996
Axiom of Choice
Self
2003
Letter to John from Jonas
1999Letter to John from Jonas
Director
1999Flowers
Director
2014
Galaxie
Self
1966The Perfect Team: The Making of 'On the Bowery'
Self
2009
The Sixties Quartet
Director
2013
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Director
2006Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Editor
2006Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Cinematography
2006Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Writer
2006
End of the Millennium Espresso
2006End of the Millennium Espresso
Director
2006
Celebrate Cinema 101
Director
1996
Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
Himself
1996Cinema Is Not 100 Years Old
Director
1996
Journey to Lithuania
Himself
1971
Robert Frank Films
Director
2006
Graffiti Museum Bronx, NYC
2006Graffiti Museum Bronx, NYC
Director
2006
EXPRMNTL
himself
2016
The Destruction Quartet
Director
2006
Kreutzer Sonata
2006Kreutzer Sonata
Director
2006
My Paris Movie
Director
2011Peter Kubelka at the Library of Congress
Director
1993
Lavender
Self
2010Lavender
Director
2010Lavender
Director of Photography
2010The Italian Notebook
Director
1967
Award
Himself
1992
Four Shadows
1978
Quartet Number One
1991Quartet Number One
Director
1991Saturday Jan. 6
Cinematography
2007Saturday Jan. 6
Director
2007Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR
Director
2009
Cinema and Sanctuary
Self
2019First Class Flight
Director
2011
I Am Searching for Nothing
Director
2006Happy Easter Ride
Director
2012
The Signing
2009
Monks of Cinema
Director
2006
Halloween 1990
Director
2014