Jonas Mekas, 'the godfather of avant-garde cinema', talks to Sean O'Hagan about working with Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Jackie Kennedy
Jonas Mekas, who will be 90 on Christmas Eve, has an intense memory of sitting on his father's bed, aged six, singing a strange little song about daily life in the village in which he grew up in Lithuania.
"It was late in the evening and suddenly I was recounting everything I had seen on the farm that day. It was a very simple, very realistic recitation of small, everyday events. Nothing was invented. I remember the reception from my mother and father, which was very good. But I also remember the feeling of intensity I experienced just from describing the actual details of what my father did every day. I have been trying to find that intensity in my work ever since."
We are sitting at a table in...
Jonas Mekas, who will be 90 on Christmas Eve, has an intense memory of sitting on his father's bed, aged six, singing a strange little song about daily life in the village in which he grew up in Lithuania.
"It was late in the evening and suddenly I was recounting everything I had seen on the farm that day. It was a very simple, very realistic recitation of small, everyday events. Nothing was invented. I remember the reception from my mother and father, which was very good. But I also remember the feeling of intensity I experienced just from describing the actual details of what my father did every day. I have been trying to find that intensity in my work ever since."
We are sitting at a table in...
- 12/2/2012
- by Sean O'Hagan
- The Guardian - Film News
Looking back at 2011 on what films moved and impressed us it becomes more and more clear—to me at least—that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, our end of year poll, now an annual tradition, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2011—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2011 to create a unique double feature. Many contributors chose their favorites of 2011, some picked out-of-the-way gems, others made some pretty strange connections—and some frankly just want to create a kerfuffle. All the contributors were asked to write a paragraph explaining their 2011 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative...
- 1/5/2012
- MUBI
If it’s Christmas Eve, that can only mean one thing: It’s Jonas Mekas‘ birthday! He turns 89 today. The legendary underground film diarist and activist was born on this day in 1922 in Semeniskiai, Lithuania. From humble, faraway beginnings, Mekas would of course later land in New York City in 1949 and change the course of artistic cinema forever. To celebrate Mekas’ special day, watch an excerpt from one of his recent works, My Mars Bar Movie, a reminiscence of an NYC hangout.
In the ’50s, Mekas would found the magazine Film Culture with his brother Adolfas, become the official film reviewer for the Village Voice and host avant-garde film screenings in the city. But, Mekas kicked the underground into high gear in the ’60s by helping craft the New American Cinema Manifesto, forming the Film-makers Cooperative, getting arrested for screening “obscene” films like Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures and, in the ’70s,...
In the ’50s, Mekas would found the magazine Film Culture with his brother Adolfas, become the official film reviewer for the Village Voice and host avant-garde film screenings in the city. But, Mekas kicked the underground into high gear in the ’60s by helping craft the New American Cinema Manifesto, forming the Film-makers Cooperative, getting arrested for screening “obscene” films like Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures and, in the ’70s,...
- 12/24/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
1 more shopping week until Christmas!
Robert Maier wrote a book about working for John Waters and now he’s got a blog with a ton more stories. This article about how Hairspray became a PG-rated movie is extremely fascinating, but go ahead and read through the entire site, too.Michael Varrati has a wonderful interview up with Lewis Jackson, director of the Christmas cult classic You Better Watch Out aka Christmas Evil. Jackson is very candid about all the horrible things that went wrong making the film and with its distribution. Yet, he still managed to make a masterpiece.Film Comment posted up their list of the Best Unreleased Movies in 2011 and, of course, they have some underground films on there, like Alex Ross Perry’s The Color Wheel, which screened at this year’s Chicago Underground Film Festival; and experimental features like Nathaniel Dorsky’s The Return, Ken Jacobs’ Seeking the Monkey King,...
Robert Maier wrote a book about working for John Waters and now he’s got a blog with a ton more stories. This article about how Hairspray became a PG-rated movie is extremely fascinating, but go ahead and read through the entire site, too.Michael Varrati has a wonderful interview up with Lewis Jackson, director of the Christmas cult classic You Better Watch Out aka Christmas Evil. Jackson is very candid about all the horrible things that went wrong making the film and with its distribution. Yet, he still managed to make a masterpiece.Film Comment posted up their list of the Best Unreleased Movies in 2011 and, of course, they have some underground films on there, like Alex Ross Perry’s The Color Wheel, which screened at this year’s Chicago Underground Film Festival; and experimental features like Nathaniel Dorsky’s The Return, Ken Jacobs’ Seeking the Monkey King,...
- 12/18/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
You might not expect it from the whimsical, episodic structure, or the convivial air promised by the retinue of famous and semi-famous faces, but Jonas Mekas’ Sleepless Nights Stories is downright creepy. Opening with an insomniac Mekas wandering about his new apartment at 4 am bemoaning a life packed away in cardboard boxes, it blossoms into a peripatetic nocturnal diary, told via chance meetings, literary references, and typewritten inter-titles, a collection of stories bound thematically by invocations of Dante, The Arabian Nights and Japanese haiku.
It’s a midnight ramble that, despite quotations from peaceful, naturist haikus by Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, has one foot in the demon-infested world of Japanese folk legends, where literal manifestations of doom creep at every turn. The film’s shadowy atmosphere, playing out in crowded bars, gallery openings and friends’ apartments, shifts from crepuscular to spooky because these encounters, through their stories, imagery or simply...
It’s a midnight ramble that, despite quotations from peaceful, naturist haikus by Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, has one foot in the demon-infested world of Japanese folk legends, where literal manifestations of doom creep at every turn. The film’s shadowy atmosphere, playing out in crowded bars, gallery openings and friends’ apartments, shifts from crepuscular to spooky because these encounters, through their stories, imagery or simply...
- 12/16/2011
- MUBI
(Sleepless Nights Stories opens theatrically at the Anthology Film Archives on Thursday, December 15, 2011. Visit their website to learn more.)
December can be perverse, especially in New York. Underneath the jingling bells, cinnamon, and pine, the promises and obligations to keep, there’s a pervasive anxiety about the dying light. Time flattens the remaining days like a steamroller as we frantically categorize our memories into lists of ten and wrap it all up in colored paper and ribbons. This can create a hectic, merry numbness that doesn’t subside until January’s hangover, when the cold is undeniable. Perhaps the timing is fortuitous, but I was thoroughly pleased and soothed by watching Jonas Mekas’ film Sleepless Nights Stories, a loose montage of gatherings between Mekas and his friends, inspired by his insomnia as well as the Arabian tales of One Thousand And One Nights. I hadn’t realized how immersed I...
December can be perverse, especially in New York. Underneath the jingling bells, cinnamon, and pine, the promises and obligations to keep, there’s a pervasive anxiety about the dying light. Time flattens the remaining days like a steamroller as we frantically categorize our memories into lists of ten and wrap it all up in colored paper and ribbons. This can create a hectic, merry numbness that doesn’t subside until January’s hangover, when the cold is undeniable. Perhaps the timing is fortuitous, but I was thoroughly pleased and soothed by watching Jonas Mekas’ film Sleepless Nights Stories, a loose montage of gatherings between Mekas and his friends, inspired by his insomnia as well as the Arabian tales of One Thousand And One Nights. I hadn’t realized how immersed I...
- 12/15/2011
- by Susanna Locascio
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Life can sometimes feel like a Jonas Mekas movie, especially when Mekas is there. On a weekday afternoon, the legendary avant-garde filmmaker sat by the window of Anyway Café off Second Avenue in the East Village, across the street from Anthology Film Archives, the haven for experimental cinema he co-founded over 40 years ago. He was sipping a Russian beer and discussing his latest diary film, "Sleepless Nights Stories," when suddenly a young woman wandered into the establishment and called 911, inexplicably demanding an ambulance because she was scared to walk home. She provided no details, and the police called to the scene appeared nonplussed. "A lot of people don't feel safe in this city," one of the officers sighed. "What your ailment?" As she grasped for words, Mekas -- inconspicuously seated in the shadows -- reached for his video camera and hit the record button. Mekas turns 89 this month and remains more active than.
- 12/15/2011
- Indiewire
The programme for the 55th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express launched today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, celebrates the imagination and excellence of international filmmaking from both established and emerging talent. Over 16 days the Festival will screen a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres . There will also be screenings of 110 live action and animated shorts. Many of the films will be presented by their directors, cast members and crew, some of whom will also take part in career interviews, masterclasses, and other special events. The 55th BFI London Film Festival will run from 12-27 October.
Special Screenings
Opening the festival is Fernando Meirelles’ 360, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Weisz is also the star of Terence Davies’ closing night film, The Deep Blue Sea, alongside a cast which includes Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.
Special Screenings
Opening the festival is Fernando Meirelles’ 360, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Weisz is also the star of Terence Davies’ closing night film, The Deep Blue Sea, alongside a cast which includes Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.
- 9/7/2011
- by John
- SoundOnSight
From the 12th to the 27th of October the 55th BFI London Film Festival brings its annual box of delights to the capital. Earlier today the full programme was announced, and it look like being another fine year.
We already know that Fernando Meirelles’ latest 360 will open proceedings on the 12th and fifteen days later Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea will bring the festival to a close but there are many more great films to come and see in London this October.
There was a familiar feeling creeping across the audience this morning that a lot of the films had, like last year, already played elsewhere but this is only a small consideration when you consider the scope of the festival’s remit. To bring a vital, fresh and horizon-expanding series of features, shorts and documentaries is no easy task, and while the more well known films have played...
We already know that Fernando Meirelles’ latest 360 will open proceedings on the 12th and fifteen days later Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea will bring the festival to a close but there are many more great films to come and see in London this October.
There was a familiar feeling creeping across the audience this morning that a lot of the films had, like last year, already played elsewhere but this is only a small consideration when you consider the scope of the festival’s remit. To bring a vital, fresh and horizon-expanding series of features, shorts and documentaries is no easy task, and while the more well known films have played...
- 9/7/2011
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Artistic director Sandra Hebron has announced the line-up for the 55th BFI London Film Festival this morning where they will screen “a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres” plus “110 live action and animated shorts”.
We are already knew Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s erotic drama play 360 written by Peter Morgan and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz would open the festival and that The Deep Blue Sea, which incidentally is another adaptation of a play (Terence Rattigan’s) and also stars Rachel Weisz, will close it. Of Time and City’s Terrence Davies directed that movie which also stars Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale.
Now we know the in-between stuff from the Gala & Special Screenings and there’s a wide selection of extremely interesting films;
George Clooney is bringing his political thriller The Ides of March that...
We are already knew Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s erotic drama play 360 written by Peter Morgan and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz would open the festival and that The Deep Blue Sea, which incidentally is another adaptation of a play (Terence Rattigan’s) and also stars Rachel Weisz, will close it. Of Time and City’s Terrence Davies directed that movie which also stars Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale.
Now we know the in-between stuff from the Gala & Special Screenings and there’s a wide selection of extremely interesting films;
George Clooney is bringing his political thriller The Ides of March that...
- 9/7/2011
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
The Boston Underground Film Festival wrapped up just a couple of days ago, so reports and reviews from the fest have been pouring in. Our first couple of links take us deep into the world of Buff madness:
First up, The Horror Digest reviews Lucky McKee’s The Woman.The Whore Church has lots of photos from Buff parties. I can name most of the peeps in the last photo, in case somebody needs to be blackmailed, or something.The Geekery checked out the films in Buff’s Future Imperfect short film lineup and was partial to a trio of them: Get With the Program, Spark and The Third Letter.Screw Films was excited that their Change to Me screened at Buff.Buff juror Tim Jackson, who sounds perplexed to have been asked to serve, writes up some of the films he screened, including Profane and The Beast Pageant.Jason Seaver has several Buff reviews,...
First up, The Horror Digest reviews Lucky McKee’s The Woman.The Whore Church has lots of photos from Buff parties. I can name most of the peeps in the last photo, in case somebody needs to be blackmailed, or something.The Geekery checked out the films in Buff’s Future Imperfect short film lineup and was partial to a trio of them: Get With the Program, Spark and The Third Letter.Screw Films was excited that their Change to Me screened at Buff.Buff juror Tim Jackson, who sounds perplexed to have been asked to serve, writes up some of the films he screened, including Profane and The Beast Pageant.Jason Seaver has several Buff reviews,...
- 4/3/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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