Jonas Mekas, 'the godfather of avant-garde cinema', talks to Sean O'Hagan about working with Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Jackie Kennedy
Jonas Mekas, who will be 90 on Christmas Eve, has an intense memory of sitting on his father's bed, aged six, singing a strange little song about daily life in the village in which he grew up in Lithuania.
"It was late in the evening and suddenly I was recounting everything I had seen on the farm that day. It was a very simple, very realistic recitation of small, everyday events. Nothing was invented. I remember the reception from my mother and father, which was very good. But I also remember the feeling of intensity I experienced just from describing the actual details of what my father did every day. I have been trying to find that intensity in my work ever since."
We are sitting at a table in...
Jonas Mekas, who will be 90 on Christmas Eve, has an intense memory of sitting on his father's bed, aged six, singing a strange little song about daily life in the village in which he grew up in Lithuania.
"It was late in the evening and suddenly I was recounting everything I had seen on the farm that day. It was a very simple, very realistic recitation of small, everyday events. Nothing was invented. I remember the reception from my mother and father, which was very good. But I also remember the feeling of intensity I experienced just from describing the actual details of what my father did every day. I have been trying to find that intensity in my work ever since."
We are sitting at a table in...
- 12/2/2012
- by Sean O'Hagan
- The Guardian - Film News
Hollywood icon Dennis Hopper, who passed away on May 29 at the age of 74, had a brief flirtation with the underground film scene of the 1960s mostly due to his personal relationship with the artist Andy Warhol. Embedded above is a homemade video of a screening of the Screen Test that Hopper filmed for Warhol accompanied by a live performance by Dean and Britta. The screening occurred in 2009 in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
In the early ’60s, although he had appeared in films like Giant, alongside James Dean, Hopper was primarily a TV actor who also performed in off-Broadway productions in NYC. During this time, the actor very wisely began buying paintings by artists in the then burgeoning Pop Art movement, including work by Pop’s biggest star Andy Warhol.
In addition to painting, Warhol was also beginning to move into filmmaking, first producing very static films such as Sleep, Eat,...
In the early ’60s, although he had appeared in films like Giant, alongside James Dean, Hopper was primarily a TV actor who also performed in off-Broadway productions in NYC. During this time, the actor very wisely began buying paintings by artists in the then burgeoning Pop Art movement, including work by Pop’s biggest star Andy Warhol.
In addition to painting, Warhol was also beginning to move into filmmaking, first producing very static films such as Sleep, Eat,...
- 5/31/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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