Jonas Mekas death: Tributes paid to late director known as 'godfather' of American avant-garde cinema
Jonas Mekas, widely referred to as the godfather of modern avant-garde cinema in America, has died aged 96.
The Lithuanian-born filmmaker, who escaped a Nazi labour camp and became a refugee, rose to acclaim in New York and went on to work with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Janis Joplin and Andy Warhol.
Mekas's death was announced on Facebook, with the post reading: "Jonas passed away quietly and peacefully early this morning. He was at home with family. He will be greatly missed but his light shines on."
The Anthology Film Archives, a New York-based nonprofit organisation that specialises in film preservation and was founded by Mekas, confirmed the news.
Mekas's loft in the city has become a place of legend. Salvador Dali visited the location, which became the subject of Mekas's film Salvador Dalí at Work.
The Velvet Underground rehearsed there and Mekas is said to have introduced a young Lou Reed to Warhol, who produced their first album.
Speaking to The Independent in 2017, Mekas said: "I came from war-time and post-war Europe where many things were forbidden. We were not familiar with what was happening in the arts in the so-called west, the modern United States.
"We came like dry sponges. We wanted to see and hear absolutely everything there was. We were hungry for culture.”
Admirers of Mekas's work include Martin Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch, John Waters and James Franco. Tributes from across the cinematic world have poured in for the filmmaker.
Jonas Mekas, the world will miss you. love, yoko
— Yoko Ono (@yokoono)
Once watched Jonas Mekas sing happy birthday when a waiter brought out a tray of table candles to begin setting up for the dinner shift. The whole restaurant joined in. pic.twitter.com/qT8rZvBtBn
— SAFDIE (@JOSH_BENNY)
"My kind of filmmaking has no plan. In a very personal kind of cinema I do, recording my daily life and around me, you cannot plan, you don’t know what’s coming. I’m not God, all I can do is watch reality and... focus, to be very open to what is happening now." Jonas Mekas #RIP pic.twitter.com/3NmYmgprxP
— Tribeca (@Tribeca)
"There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses."
R.I.P. Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) pic.twitter.com/fXX4PCkhCd— Film Comment Magazine (@FilmComment)
#toxieweeps #toxiespicoftheday RIP #jonasmekas WHAT A HERO AND VERY KIND ARTIST! @AnthologyFilm @missannabiller @KitSplit @Karaszewski @jason_blum @eliroth @VadaCallisto @AbeFromanKing pic.twitter.com/MgnbSJ607H
— Lloyd Kaufman (@lloydkaufman)
Goodbye to a patron saint of cinema, Jonas Mekas. pic.twitter.com/oVXZ7UdnRz
— Adam Cook (@AdamCook)
During his interview, Mekas offered one of his secrets to a long life: “I feel more like I am 70. I don’t feel that I am 95…I like all those things. I like women, I like wine but a certain moderation is needed in every area. I think that is one of the secrets.”