Introduction -- Chronology -- Filmography -- An interview with Jonas Mekas / Salvatore J. Fallica -- Jonas Mekas at Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Massachusetts Institute of Technology Q & A Session -- Jonas Mekas at Findlay College / Findlay College Q & A Session -- An interview with Jonas Mekas / Babette Mangolte -- Jonas Mekas answers questions after the screening of Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania / International Film Seminar, Hotchkiss School -- Jonas Mekas interview / Gerald Barrett -- Tenants of the house: a conversation with Jonas Mekas / Jonathan Rosenbaum -- Interview with Jonas Mekas / Scott MacDonald -- Just like a shadow ... / Jerome Sans -- Conversation between Jonas Mekas and Stan Brakhage / Stan Brakhage -- Jonas Mekas in conversation / Raimund Abraham -- "Fragments of paradise ... ": a conversation with Jonas Mekas / Michael J. Thompson -- Short films from a long life / Wired -- Keep dancing, keep singing / Benn Northover -- Remains of the day / Gilda Williams -- I am still a farmer: a discussion with Jonas Mekas / Hans Ulrich Obrist -- Jonas Mekas / Peter Bogdanovich -- A conversation between film legend Jonas Mekas and director Jim Jarmusch / Benn Northover -- Index.
Summary:
"A refugee from post-World War II Europe who immigrated to the US in 1949, Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) became one of America's foremost champions of independent cinema and one of its most innovative filmmakers. An admired poet in his native Lithuania, Mekas began recording his life on film shortly after his arrival in New York. Through his work as the author of the Village Voice's "Movie Journal" column, editor of Film Culture magazine, and founder of Anthology Film Archives and the Film-Makers' Cooperative, Mekas played a vital role in the promotion of avant-garde and independent films. His early films, Guns of the Trees and The Brig, challenged the structure of traditional narrative filmmaking. He is best known for his "diary films," including Walden (Diaries, Notes, and Sketches); Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania; and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty. His films, writings, and the institutions he built have influenced generations of filmmakers, poets, artists, musicians, critics, and scholars. In Jonas Mekas: Interviews, volume editor Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker collects eighteen interviews covering almost sixty years of the filmmaker's career. Mekas discusses his remarkable life as a refugee from Nazi- and Soviet-occupied Lithuania, his role as one of the major figures in the development of the American avant-garde, and his thoughts about his own work. In conversation with scholars, journalists, and other prominent artists, Mekas speaks of his passion for artistic expression and uncompromising vision for a liberated cinema. These interviews preserve Mekas's voice so that it might speak to future generations of artists and intellectuals"-- Provided by publisher. "Collected interviews with the director of avant-garde films such as Walden (Diaries, Notes, and Sketches); Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania; and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.