  jonas mekas (; born december 24,mekas' passport shows december 23, 1922, the date sometimes listed as his "official" date of birth; however, he was actually born on december 24, 1922, as he confirms in this video interview. 1922) is a lithuanian-american filmmaker, poet and artist who has often been called "the godfather of american avant-garde cinema." his work has been exhibited in museums and festivals world-wide. ==biography== in 1944, mekas left lithuania because of war. en route, his train was stopped in germany and he and his brother, adolfas mekas (1925â2011), were imprisoned in a labor camp in elmshorn, a suburb of hamburg, for eight months. the brothers escaped and were detained near the danish border where they hid on a farm for two months until the end of the war. after the war, mekas lived in displaced person camps in wiesbaden and kassel. from 1946 to 1948, he studied philosophy at the university of mainz and at the end of 1949, he emigrated with his brother to the u.s., settling in williamsburg, brooklyn, new york. two weeks after his arrival, he borrowed the money to buy his first bolex 16mm camera and began to record moments of his life. he discovered avant-garde film at venues such as amos vogelâs pioneering cinema 16, and he began curating avant-garde film screenings at gallery east on avenue a and houston street, and a film forum series at carl fisher auditorium on 57th street. in 1954, together with his brother adolfas mekas, he founded film culture, and in 1958, began writing his âmovie journalâ column for the village voice. in 1962, he co-founded film-makers' cooperative and the filmmakers' cinematheque in 1964, which eventually grew into anthology film archives, one of the worldâs largest and most important repositories of avant-garde film. he was part of the new american cinema, with, in particular, fellow film-maker lionel rogosin. he was a close collaborator with artists such as andy warhol, nico, allen ginsberg, yoko ono, john lennon, salvador dalÃ­, and fellow lithuanian george maciunas. in 1964, mekas was arrested on obscenity charges for showing flaming creatures (1963) and jean genetâs [[un chant d'amour|un chant d
1922_births 20th-century_Lithuanian_people 20th-century_poets American_film_directors American_people_of_Lithuanian_descent American_poets Chevaliers_of_the_Ordre_des_Arts_et_des_Lettres Experimental_filmmakers Fluxus Guggenheim_Fellows Lithuanian_emigrants_to_the_United_States Lithuanian_expatriates_in_Austria Lithuanian_expatriates_in_Germany Lithuanian_film_directors Lithuanian_poets Lithuanian_refugees Lithuanian_resistance_partisans Lithuanian_writers Living_people People_from_PanevAA 3/4 ys_County People_from_Williamsburg,_Brooklyn Recipients_of_the_Austrian_Decoration_for_Science_and_Art Recipients_of_the_Lithuanian_National_Prize University_of_Mainz_alumni