PARALLEL SECTIONS
CASSIS / CASSIS
JONAS MEKAS – 1996 / UNITED STATES
A small port in South of France, a lighthouse, the sea, shot from just before the sunrise until just after the sunset, all day long, frame by frame, a frame or two every second or every few minutes.
NOTES ON THE CIRCUS / NOTES ON THE CIRCUS
JONAS MEKAS – 1966 / UNITED STATES
Ringling Bros., filmed in three sessions (three-ring circus), with no post-editing of opticals, five rolls strung together as they came out of a camera. Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band prepared the soundtrack.
HARE KRISHNA / HARE KRISHNA
JONAS MEKAS – 1966 / UNITED STATES
A ‘documentary’ – one Sunday afternoon in New York – beautiful new generation – dancing in the streets of New York – singing ‘Hare Hare’ – filling the streets and the air with love…
REPORT FROM MILLBROOK / REPORT FROM MILLBROOK
JONAS MEKAS – 1965 – 1966 / UNITED STATES
Filmed in 1965, on a weekend visit to Tim Leary’s place. It was a light summer outing. No LSD. Tim took me for a walk, though, and we talked about LSD. I told him that the chemicals that motivate and drive artists are more powerful and mysterious than LSD or any drug. On that note we turned back and ended our walk. There was nothing more to say. In 1966, Tim’s place was raided by the local sheriff. The East Village Other taped an interview with the sheriff about the raid. I used the interview as the soundtrack for the film. The footage can also be seen in a different form in Diaries, notes & Sketches. – Jonas Mekas.
TRAVEL SONGS / TRAVEL SONGS
JONAS MEKAS – 1967-1981 / UNITED STATES
Composed from two decades of travelling around Europe, Travel Songs evokes that improvised approach so typical of Jonas. Assisi, Moscow and Stockholm are filtered through his extraordinary and lively lens.
QUARTET #1 / QUARTET #1
JONAS MEKAS – 1991 / UNITED STATES
I began to worry about the huge amount of unedited footage that I had on my shelves. I had to do something with it before it begins to fade. One idea was to begin to edit it all in form of quartets. This quartet was my first try in that direction. – Jonas Mekas
IMPERFECT THREE-IMAGE FILMS / IMPERFECT THREE-IMAGE FILMS
JONAS MEKAS – 1995 / UNITED STATES
A series ‘imperfect’ three image films from my new film diaries. – Jonas Mekas
SONG OF AVIGNON / SONG OF AVIGNON
JONAS MEKAS – 1998 / UNITED STATES
Reflections on my trip to Avignon in 1966, which helped me overcome a deep crisis I was going through. The texts are from my diaries of that period and are read by Angus McLise. – Jonas Mekas
MOZART WIEN & ELVIS / MOZART WIEN & ELVIS
JONAS MEKAS – 2000 / UNITED STATES
This is footage of Elvis Presley’s last performance in New York on June 9th, 1972. It is preceded by footage I shot in Vienna a few years earlier. It is a unique recording whichever way you look at it.