Direction: Jonas Mekas
The best movies, series, and documentaries directed by Jonas Mekas. Explore exceptional titles that showcase a unique filmmaking vision.
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
Lost, Lost, Lost
1976 · Documentary · 180 min. · United States
Direction Jonas Mekas
Cast Peter Beard · Ed Emshwiller · Ken Jacobs · Jonas Mekas
8.1
79 votes
8.1
79 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
Birth of a Nation
1997 · Documentary · 85 min. · United States
Direction Jonas Mekas
Plot Mekas leads an archival avant-garde, a fast-paced parade of 160 underground film people he captured on film over four decades, described as, "160 portraits or rather appearances, sketches and glimpses...
7.4
31 votes
7.4
31 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
Direction Jonas Mekas
Cast Jonas Mekas · Benn Northover
7.3
21 votes
7.3
21 votes
This Side of Paradise
1999 · Documentary · 35 min. · United States
Direction Jonas Mekas
Cast John Kennedy Jr. · Caroline Kennedy · Jacqueline Kennedy
7.2
61 votes
7.2
61 votes
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (Fluxus)
1992 · Documentary · 35 min. · United States
Direction Jonas Mekas
Plot The life and work of Fluxus artist George Maciunas as seen in clips filmed between 1952 and 1978.
7.2
24 votes
7.2
24 votes
Correspondence Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
2011 · Documentary · 100 min. · Spain
Direction José Luis Guerín · Jonas Mekas
Cast Jonas Mekas · José Luis Guerín
7.2
251 votes
7.2
251 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
Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album
2000 · Documentary · 60 min. · United States
Direction Jonas Mekas · Andrew Solt
Cast John Lennon · Yoko Ono · Phil Spector · George Harrison
Plot It follows the making of Lennon's classic album, 'Imagine', and we are given insight both into his impatient but passionate recording processes, and also into the man himself and his...
7.1
38 votes
7.1
38 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
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
WTC Haikus (S)
2010 · Documentary · 14 min. · United States
Direction Jonas Mekas
Plot For this piece, Mekas accumulated footage from several of his films–finished and unfinished–from the past few decades. Mekas lived in SoHo for a long time, and the towers naturally kept...
6.6
343 votes
6.6
343 votes
Sleepless Nights Stories
2011 · Documentary · 114 min. · United States
Direction Jonas Mekas
Cast Raimund Abraham · Marina Abramovic · Björk · Thomas Boujut
6.6
56 votes
6.6
56 votes