Jonas Mekas Centennial

On Christmas Eve 1922, filmmaker, poet, “impresario of the avant-garde”,
Jonas Mekas was born in the farming village of Semeniškiai, Lithuania.
Today (Saturday) marks the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary seminal figure
(who passed away, in January, 2019, aged 96, energetic, active, inspirational, extraordinary, right to the very end)

The Jonas Mekas Centennial has been celebrated (suitably internationally) in events coordinated by the Lithuanian Cultural Institute throughout this past year, including, notably, “The Camera Was Always Running” – the first US Museum survey of his work – see here  and K.D. Davison‘s full-length documentary  Fragments of Paradise  – see Christian Blauvelt‘s sympathetic and attentive review of the film for IndieWire – here

(and see here for a Q & A about the film, from Doc NYC 2022 with Davison, Oona Mekas and Hollis Melton

For Jonas Mekas and Allen Ginsberg on The Allen Ginsberg Project – see here
– and here and here

From back in 2009 at The Poetry Project’s Annual New Year Marathon – here‘s Jonas with a poem by Rilke and a wonderful story about the cutting off of Allen Ginsberg’s beard!

Jonas, of course, was responsible for the 1997 documentary, Scenes From Allen’s Last Three Days on Earth As A Spirit

Here’s Jennifer Elster‘s video of Jonas reading and speaking  at the New Museum in New York on the death of Allen Ginsberg  (and incorporating some of that footage)

Two great spirits, no longer with us – much missed – Allen’s Centennial will be coming up in 2026