DIARIES, NOTES & SKETCHES VOL. 1-8

by Jonas MEKAS
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This boxset brings together the “diary films” of Jonas Mekas (1922-2019). Mekas perfected a poetic, personal technique of filming his daily life in short bursts, with no plan or script, as one would write when taking notes or keeping a diary. He filmed a little bit every day, collecting his many 100-foot rolls (2’30”), occasionally pausing to edit them together, selecting rolls, sequences or fragments to make films that reflect different periods of his life: New York in the 1950s with its immigrant communities of displaced persons; the 60s avant-garde art scene; his brief bittersweet returns to Lithuania and other journeys.

As time slips by, his family life, his friends and the simple observations of life are captured, leaving their physical trace on film, a new reality of images.

Originally, Mekas thought of his grand project as one long film, Diaries Notes and Sketches, in which each part would be a chapter. Walden was the first part to be edited together, while Lost Lost Lost, filmed during the fifteen years that preceded it, wouldn’t be completed for another seven years. But because the film labs kept confusing all these different films that had the same name, Jonas abandoned the idea and gave each film their own respective title.

We chose to start volume 1 with Walden (shot 1964-1968 and edited in 1969) followed by Lost Lost Lost (filmed 1949-1963 and edited in 1976). We then associated Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (shot and edited in 1971) with Paradise Not Yet Lost (shot in 1977 and edited in 1979). Volume 4 is a series of short and medium-length films shot “in between” the others, 1963-1967, and edited through 1978. Volume 5 consists of a quartet of portraits of art friends (Andy Warhol, George Maciunas, Yoko Ono et John Lennon, Peter Beard and the family of John F. Kennedy), all shot in the 1960s and 1970s and edited in the 1990s. Volume 6 brings together short films and videos from his later period, 1991-2015, his more personal reflections on his life, on art and on his city of New York. Volumes 7 and 8 are devoted to his longest film (shot 1974-1999 and edited in 2000), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty, an epic poem about his family life during the past quarter century.

The video elements included on these discs are taken from the latest high-quality transfers of the most pristine film prints available. Many of these films are previously unpublished in video format. Included are special gifts to complement the films and to enhance your home viewing pleasure.


CONTENT


WALDEN
1964-1969 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 180' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
LOST, LOST, LOST
1949-1976 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 178' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
AWARD PRESENTATION TO ANDY WARHOL
1964 / 16mm / n&b / sonore / 12' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
FILM MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS
1963 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 20' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
CASSIS
1966 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 4' 30
by Jonas MEKAS
HARE KRISHNA
1966 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 4' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
NOTES ON THE CIRCUS
1966 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 12' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
REPORT FROM MILLBROOK
1965-1966 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 12' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
TRAVEL SONGS
1967-1981 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 28' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
IN BETWEEN
1978 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 52' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
NOTES FOR JEROME
1978 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 45' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNEY TO LITHUANIA
1971-1972 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 82' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
PARADISE NOT YET LOST
1977 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 96' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ANDY WARHOL: "FRIENDSHIPS AND INTERSECTIONS"
1963-1990 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 37' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
ZEFIRO TORNA OR SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF GEORGES MACIUNAS
1992 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 34' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOHN
1995 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 18' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
THIS SIDE OF PARADISE (FRAGMENTS OF AN UNFINISHED BIOGRAPHY)
1999 / 16mm / coul-n&b / sonore / 35' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
OUT-TAKES FROM THE LIFE OF A HAPPY MAN
2012 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 68' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
QUARTET NUMBER ONE
1991 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 5' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
CINEMA IS NOT 100 YEARS OLD
1996 / Vidéo / couleur / sonore / 4' 10
by Jonas MEKAS
SONG OF AVIGNON
1966-1998 / 8mm / couleur / sonore / 8' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
MÄRCHEN AUS ALTEN ZEITEN, EIN
2001 / Vidéo / couleur / sonore / 6' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
LETTER TO PENNY ARCADE
2001 / Vidéo / couleur / sonore / 15' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN
2003 / 16mm / coul-n&b / silencieux / 15' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
SILENCE, PLEASE
2000 / Vidéo / couleur / sonore / 6' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
MY BOLEXES
2015 / Vidéo / couleur / sonore / 4' 00
by Jonas MEKAS
AS I WAS MOVING AHEAD OCCASIONALLY I SAW BRIEF GLIMPSES OF BEAUTY
2000 / 16mm / couleur / sonore / 288' 00
by Jonas MEKAS

MORE INFORMATION


release date 2022
publisher Re:Voir
format DVD5 PAL
zone Interzone Region 0
number of disks 8
running time 1262 min.
subtitles French, English, Lithuanian, German, Spanish,