Jonas Mekas

Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet and critic, born in Semeniškiai, Lithuania, who died in New York. He is known for diary films such as Walden and Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania, and for building the institutions of American avant-garde cinema, from the Film-Makers' Cooperative to Anthology Film Archives. Music was also part of his life, and he often sang with musicians. Mekas co-founded the journal Film Culture with his brother Adolfas in 1954, began his "Movie Journal" column in The Village Voice in 1958 and opened Anthology Film Archives in 1970.