Jonas Mekas

A Lithuanian who escaped from a German labour camp, Joans Mekas arrived in New York at the age of 27, and it was there that he first became a filmmaker. It was his brother Adolfas who first gained notoriety for the delirious Hallelujah the Hills, acclaimed by Godard. But Jonas quickly established himself as the leader of the American underground, still in its infancy. He would later go on to become its memory, too, thanks to his colossal film archive. A devotee of avant-garde cinema, he used his own life story and his encounters as the basis for his films, shot on film that was reworked by hand, edited into short sequences with a syncopated, often frenetic rhythm. From shorts to features, his camera never stopped rolling and he is today a cult auteur for those drawn to a cinema that is unapologetically different.

In collaboration with CINEMATEK