Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Jonas Mekas was born on December 21, 1922, in Šeduva, Lithuania, as Jonas Makssys.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born: December 21, 1922, Šeduva, Lithuania
Died: January 23, 2019, New York City, USA
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, artist, and journalist.
Early Life and Background
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Mekas was born to a family of farmers in rural Lithuania. At the age of six, he and his family were forced to flee their homeland due to the Soviet occupation, settling first in Germany and later in New York City's Greenwich Village. Mekas' early life experiences would shape his perspective on politics, art, and identity.
Major Accomplishments
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Mekas was a pioneer of avant-garde cinema, experimenting with new narrative structures and techniques. He co-founded the _Film Culture_ magazine in 1955, which became a platform for showcasing experimental films and championing artistic freedom. Mekas' most famous film, Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol, (1964) offers an intimate portrayal of the artist's life and work.
Notable Works or Actions
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Mekas' body of work includes:
Diaries (_1951-1997_): A 90-hour film composed of his personal diary entries, shot in various locations over several decades.
Walden (_1969_): An experimental documentary exploring the intersection of art and nature.
Mekas' extensive writings on cinema, published in _Film Culture_, including reviews, essays, and interviews with prominent artists.Impact and Legacy
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Jonas Mekas' innovative filmmaking style, emphasis on artistic freedom, and commitment to preserving experimental cinema have left a lasting impact on the film industry. His legacy extends beyond his own work to inspire generations of filmmakers, writers, and artists.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Mekas was widely quoted for his poetic and insightful writings on art, politics, and life. He is remembered as:
A champion of artistic freedom, who fought against censorship and advocated for the rights of filmmakers to express themselves freely.
A master filmmaker who pushed the boundaries of cinema, experimenting with new forms and techniques.
A devoted chronicler of his time, whose work offers an intimate portrayal of the lives of artists and intellectuals.
Mekas' contributions to art, film, and literature continue to inspire and influence contemporary creators. His commitment to preserving artistic freedom and innovation will be remembered for generations to come.
Quotes by Jonas Mekas
In Lithuania, I am known as a poet, and they don't care about my cinema. In Europe, they don't know my poetry; in Europe, I am a filmmaker. But here, in the United States, I am only a maverick!
It’s more difficult for a mother to forget one child than for living humanity to forget all the millions who died in this war.
We have learned to eat like snakes. When there is something to eat – we eat enough to last for a week. When there is nothing – we don’t eat. Now, when we get our food supply, we eat it all, right there, we leave nothing for tomorrow. Like the birds. And then we read our books. We go after spiritual food...
How to live? To fall, to fall, with eyes closed, to fall into every occasion, into everything.
Yes, I got my first Bolex camera a few weeks after being dropped in New York by the United Nations Refugee Organization. That was on October 29th, 1949. With my brother Adolfas, we wanted to make a film about displaced persons, how one feels being uprooted from one’s home.
I am very active on the Internet. In 2007, I made one film every day and posted it on my website. That was a 365-day project, really exhausting, but I still put a lot of stuff on – from life, friends, my own life.
All nature is full of hatred for humans. I don’t think man has any friends among plants or animals. I suspect that even dogs and cats, those so-called best friends of man, are only pretending friendship to man in order to spy on his misdeeds, and they would betray him without blinking an eye the first chance they had. They know that Man is the worst of the beasts.
You want me to be rational. The most rational thing is the machine. Go to the machines. All their separate parts work together. But I live with no purpose, irrationally.
The deeper I went into culture, the more confused I got. So I needed something more real. I said, “Okay, from now on, my country will be cinema.”