The Man With Memories in His Eyes: Jonas Mekas’ Cinema

Paulina Gorlewska

kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University (Poland)

Abstract

The article is an analysis of the first three film essays by Jonas Mekas in the context of the autobiographical theory in film. The biographical experience of displacement and the search for rooting in the new reality became the background of the interpretation and analysis. The early work of the Lithuanian director was analyzed in relation to the concept of film diary and diary film, using the close reading method. The article is particularly concerned with the issue of shaping of the original style of Jonas Mekas, based on editing made at the time of filming, which was combined with the mnemonic processes proper to the phenomenon of reminiscence and the poetics of the American avant-garde film of the 1960s.


Keywords:

Jonas Mekas, autobiographical theory, film diary

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Published
2018-12-31

Cited by

Gorlewska, P. (2018) “The Man With Memories in His Eyes: Jonas Mekas’ Cinema”, Kwartalnik Filmowy, (104), pp. 62–83. doi: 10.36744/kf.1858.

Authors

Paulina Gorlewska 
kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland

Filmoznawczyni, doktor nauk o sztuce (Instytut Sztuk Audiowizualnych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego). Zainteresowana współczesnym kinem rosyjskim oraz kulturą Rosji postsowieckiej oglądanymi z perspektywy studiów nad traumą i memory studies. Publikowała m.in. w „Kwartalniku Filmowym”, „Studiach Filmoznawczych”, „Kinie” oraz „Politei”.



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