Cinematography: Jonas Mekas

The best movies, series, and documentaries with cinematography by Jonas Mekas. Explore visually stunning titles that highlight an exceptional filmmaking.


As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty

2000 · Documentary · 300 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Plot Five-hour long diary film assembled by hand from an archive of fifty years worth of recordings of his life.

8.2

460 votes

8.2

460 votes

He Stands in the Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life

1986 · Documentary · 124 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

8.1

43 votes

8.1

43 votes

Out-Takes from the Life of Happy Man

2012 · Documentary · 68 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Cast Peter Kubelka · James Broughton · William S. Burroughs · Robert Frank

Plot "A motion picture composed of brief diaristic scenes not used in completed films from the years 1960-2000; and self-referential video footage taped during the editing. Brief glimpses of family, friends,...

8.0

201 votes

8.0

201 votes

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania

1972 · Documentary · 88 min. · United Kingdom

Direction Jonas Mekas

Cast Peter Kubelka · Annette Michelson

Plot After a twenty-seven year absence, Adolfas and his brother Jonas returned to their birthplace in Lithuania. They had left Lithuania as young men, destined for a German labor camp. Now...

7.9

461 votes

7.9

461 votes

Walden: Diaries, Notes and Sketches

1969 · Documentary · 180 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Cast Timothy Leary · Ed Emshwiller · Jack Smith · Mario Montez

Plot Poet and hero of the American counter-culture, Jonas Mekas, born in Lithuania in 1922, invented the diary form of film-making. Walden, his first completed diary film, an epic portrait of...

7.8

394 votes

7.8

394 votes

Song of Avignon (S)

1998 · Documentary · 8 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Plot Reflections on my 1966 trip to Avignon that helped me to survive a deep crisis I was going through. Texts from my diaries of that period on the soundtrack are...

7.4

121 votes

7.4

121 votes

A Letter from Greenpoint

2005 · Movie · 120 min. · United States

7.3

21 votes

7.3

21 votes

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections

1982 · Documentary · 38 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Cast Andy Warhol · Allen Ginsberg · John Lennon · Yoko Ono

Plot "The film is made up of my film diaries related to Andy Warhol from the years 1965-1982" - Jonas Mekas

7.1

176 votes

7.1

176 votes

Guns of the Trees

1961 · Movie · 85 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Cast Adolfas Mekas · Frances Stillman · Ben Carruthers · Argus Spear Juillard

Plot A depressed woman, Barbara (Frances Stillman), is on the verge of suicide. A man she meets in a church (Adolfas Mekas) and a married couple (Ben Carruthers and Argus Spear...

7.0

50 votes

7.0

50 votes

Travel Songs

1981 · Documentary · 28 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

7.0

38 votes

7.0

38 votes

Report from Millbrook (S)

1966 · Documentary · 11 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Plot An oblique documentary about the LSD group experiments of Timothy Leary, with off screen commentary of a participant and shots of Leary’s house and the surroundings.

6.7

24 votes

6.7

24 votes

The Brig

1964 · Movie · 65 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Cast Warren Finnerty · Jim Anderson · Henry Howard · Michael Elias

Plot A ultra-realistic depiction of life in a Marine Corps brig (or jail) at a camp in Japan in 1957. Marine prisoners are awakened and put through work details for the...

6.7

42 votes

6.7

42 votes

Sleepless Nights Stories

2011 · Documentary · 114 min. · United States

6.6

56 votes

6.6

56 votes

The Song of Moscow (S)

1971 · Documentary · 4 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Plot Images of Moscow filmed in 1971 as part of Mekas’s 'Travel Songs' series.

6.4

21 votes

6.4

21 votes

That Summer

2017 · Documentary · 80 min. · Sweden

Direction Göran Olsson

Cast Paul Morrissey · Peter Beard · William Vanden Heuvel

Plot A prequel to “Grey Gardens” chronicling the summer when the two Edies’ cousin Lee Radziwill arrived with the Maysles brothers.

6.2

50 votes

6.2

50 votes

Notes on the Circus (S)

1966 · Documentary · 12 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

6.2

94 votes

6.2

94 votes

Cassis (S)

1966 · Documentary · 4 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

5.7

88 votes

5.7

88 votes

Imperfect Three Image Films (S)

1995 · Documentary · 4 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Plot "A series 'imperfect' three image films from my new film diaries. My contribution to the Julius Ziz’s Anthology of 3-Image Films. Since my filming style depends a lot on these...

5.5

44 votes

5.5

44 votes

Salvador Dali at Work (S)

1964 · Documentary · 7 min. · United States

Direction Jonas Mekas

Cast Salvador Dalí · Verushka · Taylor Mead · Jonas Mekas

Plot Cinema Verite documentarian Jonas Mekas follows the surrealist artist around the streets documenting staged public art events.

5.3

33 votes

5.3

33 votes

Award Presentation to Andy Warhol (S)

1964 · Documentary · 12 min. · United States

5.0

37 votes

5.0

37 votes