
Ken Jacobs
Biography
A pioneer of the American film avant-garde of the 1960s and '70s, Ken Jacobs is a central figure in post-war experimental cinema. From his first films of the late 1950s to his recent experiments with digital video, his investigations and innovations have influenced countless artists. A New Yorker by birth, Jacobs graduated from City University to find himself in the midst of the downtown art scene of the 1960s, which included artists Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, beat writers Allen Ginsb…
Known For
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Self
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Self
Lost, Lost, Lost
Self
What Is Cinema?
Self
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Self (archive footage)
Star Spangled to Death
Oscar Friendly / Ringmaster / Janitor
Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
Himself
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Himself
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Filmography
Acting (34)
Movies (34)
Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse
2025as Self
Ken Jacobs - from Orchard Street to the Museum of Modern Art
2023as Self
Art-House America: Austin Film Society
2023as Self
Fragments of Paradise
2022as Self
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
2022
Reminiscences of Jonas Mekas
2016
What Is Cinema?
2013as Self
The Eternal Courtship
2013
Emma's Dilemma
2012as Himself
Sleepless Nights Stories
2011as Self
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
2011as Himself
Cinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
2011as Himself
Lavender
2010as Self
Santos Dumont: Pré-Cineasta?
2010as Himself
Momma's Man
2008as Dad
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
2007as Self
365 Day Project
2007as Self
Star Spangled to Death
2004as Oscar Friendly / Ringmaster / Janitor
Nervous Ken
2003Shorts From the Underground
2002as Self
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000as Self
Birth of a Nation
1997as Self
Jonas in the Desert
1994as Self
Quartet Number One
1991
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1986as Self (archive footage)
Home Movies 1971-81
1985
Lost, Lost, Lost
1976as Self
Horizons
1973
Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
1973
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
1968as Self
Huge Pupils
1968as Himself
Bill's Hat
1967
Blonde Cobra
1963
Scotch Tape
1962Crew (277)
Movies (277)
Downtown Loft with Skylights
2026 UpcomingDirector
Apr 20
Book of Eternalisms 39
2025Director
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2023Director
Book of Eternalisms 1-6
2023Director
From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight
2023Director
Writhing City
2023Director
Spasm
2023Director
Other Urban Lives
2023Director
Tourists of the Familiar 15
2023Director
Up the Illusion
2023Director
Tourists of the Familiar 5
2023Director
Tourists of the Familiar 1
2023Director
Whims of Twenty Twenty-Three
2023Director
Tourists of the Familiar 10
2023Director
Tourists of the Familiar 20
2023Director
Buster Keaton Embossed
2022Director
One Dozen Roses
2022Director
Sergei Eisenstein Embossed
2022Director
America Lets Her Hair Down 1905
2022Director
When Timofeev Moves Everything Moves
2022Director
Real Action Figures
2022Director
A Small Misunderstanding
2021Director
Eternal Beach
2021Director
XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX
2021Director
XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX
2021Editor
Adventures of Cookie Truck
2021Director
Cartoonish 1-10
2021Director
Hoffman Student
2021Director
Aspiring To Music
2021Director
Abstract Eternalism
2021Director
Double Wow
2021Director
Municipal Building Passage
2020Director
Broadway Buildings II
2020Director
Chinese New Years II
2020Director
City Foliage
2020Director
Reading Society
2020Director
Friendly Building
2020Director
Broadway Buildings III
2020Director
Resting Merchant
2020Director
Hubble II
2020Director
Doyer Street
2020Director
DR. TOOTHY
2020Director
Spiky
2020Director
Natural Collage
2020Director
Red Green
2020Director
DeKooning Passed
2020Director
Duck
2020Director
Barber
2020Director
Spaceworks
2020Director
Ken and Flo
2020Director
Flowers and Bike
2020Director
Working Girls (short)
2020Director
Rain Clouds
2020Director
Garage Wall
2020Director
Street Commerce
2020Director
Facade with Face
2020Director
Period Piece
2020Director
Bargains
2020Director
Clouds and Trees
2020Director
Fire Escape
2020Director
Sleeping American
2020Director
Broadway Building
2020Director
Bandit
2020Director
Chinese New Years
2020Director
Storefront
2020Director
Roots of Manhattan
2020Director
Water Balloon
2020Director
Street Commerce II
2020Director
Transparent Apartments
2020Director
Halley’s Comet
2020Director
Rubble
2020Director
Bison
2020Director
Neon Sign
2020Director
RECIPROCAL
2020Director
Brick Building with Red and Green Windows
2020Director
Movie That Invites Pausing
2020Director
PAINTED POSTER
2020Director
Another Day in Days of Yore
2020Director
Lazy City
2020Director
Whirlpool
2020Director
Foliage in Moving Car Window
2020Director
Waiting Room Window
2020Director
Things to Come
2019Director
Joan Mitchell: Departures
2019Director
THE WHOLE SHEBANG
2019Director
Cartoon
2019Director
CRUSH
2019Director
Chaos Is Order Misunderstood
2019Director
Dimsum and Dragons
2019Director
The Sky Socialist: The Environs
2019Director
Figures I - V
2019Director
Above the Rain
2019Director
MOVING ROAD
2019Director
Once Upon a Planet
2019Director
Details of Pollock's White Light
2019Director
Failure
2019Director
PAPPY SEES 3D, TOO
2019Director
Nervous Magic Lantern: 3D for One or Two Naked Eyes
2019Director
Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
2019Director
Tree Stump
2018Director
The Moments: Evening Boat Ride
2018Director
Get Up and Go
2017Director
A Spin Through Night City
2017Director
Shelley Duvall is Olive Oyl
2017Director
Along the Elevated
2017Director
Windbreaker
2017Director
Ulysses in the Subway
2017Director
Swee’pea’s Favorite Eternalisms
2017Director
Ken Jacobs / Ghosts Of The Holy Ghost Spermic Brotherhood @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016Director
Mosco Street 2
2016Director
I'm Telling You
2016Director
Mosco Street 3: Attack of The Perfect Camera (Fuji W3)
2016Director
Reichstag 9/11
2016Director
Ken Jacobs / Tom Chiu of Flux Quartet @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016Director
Lurking
2016Director
Ken Jacobs / Robert Poss @The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016Director
Ken Jacobs / diNMachine @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016Director
Ken Jacobs / Rick Reed & Tara Bhattacharya @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016Director
Hydroelectric Dam
2016Director
Ken Jacobs / JG Thirlwell @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016Director
Snow in Headlights II
2016Director
Molten Landscape
2016Director
Ken Jacobs / Victoria Keddie @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016Director
Cyclops Observes the Celestial Bodies
2015Director
Cyclops Observes the Celestial Bodies
2015Writer
Zazie Learns About Money
2015Director
Batchellor’s Dog and Beach
2015Director
The Lackadaisical Speed of Light
2015Director
Granular
2015Director
Chrysalis
2015Director
Floral
2015Director
Afternoon Tide
2015Director
Empty Seats
2015Director
Aimless Sightseeing, Seoul
2015Director
Popeye Sees 3-D
2014Director
Pygmalion Cubed
2014Director
Canopy
2014Director
Celestial Bodies
2014Director
The Guests
2014Director
Wire Fence
2014Director
Joys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #4
2013Director
A Primer in Sky Socialism
2013Director
Joys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #3
2013Director
Joys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #2
2013Director
Joys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #2
2013Technical Supervisor
Joys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #1
2013Director
20 Little Films
2012Director
Blankets for Indians
2012Director
Street Vendor
2012Director
Seeking the Monkey King
2011Director
The Pushcarts Leave Eternity Street
2011Director
The Pushcarts Leave Eternity Street
2011Writer
DAY AND NIGHT
2011Director
60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero
2011Director
Another Occupation
2011Director
Another Occupation
2011Writer
The Roses
2011Director
The Green Wave
2011Director
OCCUPY WALL STREET, THE 99% JOIN IN
2011Director
America at War, The Home Front: Film Opening
2011Director
Revolving Door
2011Director
Turbulent Waters
2011Director
Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman
2011Director
Sensoriums at Sea: Dr. Toothy's New Entranceway
2010Director
Sensoriums at Sea: Toothy Two
2010Director
The Near-Collision
2010Director
Fair And White: Parts I, II, III and Extra
2010Director
A Loft
2010Director
A Loft
2010Editor
The Day Was a Scorcher
2009Director
The Day Was a Scorcher
2009Writer
Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
2009Director
Walkway
2009Director
Hot Dogs At The Met
2009Director
“Slow is Beauty”—Rodin
2009Director
The Signing
2009Director
Berkeley To San Francisco
2009Director
What Happened on 23rd Street in 1901
2009Director
Bob Fleischner Dying
2009Director
Brook
2009Director
Ronald Gonzales, Sculptor
2009Director
Brain Operations
2009Director
Excerpt From THE SKY SOCIALIST Stratified
2009Director
Gravity Is Tops
2009Director
Amorous Interludes: His Favorite Wife Improved (or The Virtue Of Bad Reception)
2008Director
The Discovery
2008Director
Alone at Last
2008Director
Elbow Dance
2008Director
The Scenic Route
2008Director
Love Story
2008Director
Return to the Scene of the Crime
2008Director
Anaglyph Tom (Tom with Puffy Cheeks)
2008Director
New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903
2007Director
New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903
2007Producer
We Are Charming
2007Director
Popeye Sees 3-D, TOO
2007Director
Gift of Fire: Nineteen (Obscure) Frames That Changed The World
2007Director
Titles
2007Director
Mosco Street Rapture
2007Director
Nymph
2007Director
Capitalism: Slavery
2007Director
Capitalism: Child Labor
2007Director
Razzle Dazzle: The Lost World
2007Director
Nervous Lantern at Kill Your Timid Notion Festival
2007Director
Hanky Panky January 1902
2007Director
Pushcarts of Eternity Street
2006Director
Monks of Cinema
2006Camera Operator
Two Wrenching Departures
2006Director
The Surging Sea of Humanity
2006Director
Let There Be Whistleblowers
2006Director
Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise
2005Director
Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise
2005Editor
Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise
2005Producer
Ontic Antics Starring Laurel and Hardy: Bye Molly
2005Director
Insistent Clamor
2005Director
Krypton Is Doomed
2005Director
Spiral Nebula
2005Director
Spiral Nebula
2005Writer
Let There Be Whistle Blowers
2005Director
Le Prince: Leeds Bridge 1888
2005Director
Star Spangled to Death
2004Cinematography
Star Spangled to Death
2004Director
Star Spangled to Death
2004Editor
Star Spangled to Death
2004Writer
Mountaineer Spinning
2004Director
Keeping an Eye on Stan
2003Director
The Sky Socialist: Flight
2002Director
Circling Zero: Part One, We See Absence
2002Director
A Tom Tom Chaser
2002Director
New York Street Trolleys 1900
1999Director
Flo Rounds a Corner
1999Director
The Georgetown Loop
1996Director
Disorient Express
1996Director
Make Light On Film
1995Director
Looting For Rodney
1995Director
Bitemporal Vision: The Sea
1994Director
Opening the Nineteenth Century: 1896
1991Director
Opening the Nineteenth Century: 1896
1991Writer
Keaton's Cops
1991Director
Keaton's Cops
1991Writer
Chronometer
1990Director
The Alps and The Jews
1986Director
Perfect Film
1985Director
The Doctor's Dream
1977Director
Book of Splendors, Part Two, Book of Levers: Action at a Distance
1977Director
Spaghetti Aza
1976Director
Urban Peasants
1975Director
Jerry Takes A Back Seat, Then Passes Out Of The Picture
1975Director
Changing Azazel
1973Director
Binghamton, My India
1970Director
Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son
1969Director
Nissan Ariana Window
1969Director
Globe
1969Director
The Sky Socialist
1968Director
Soft Rain
1968Director
For Life, Against the War
1967Director
Airshaft
1967Director
Lisa and Joey in Connecticut
1965Director
Naomi Is A Dream of Loveliness
1965Director
We Stole Away
1964Director
Winter Sky
1964Director
The Winter Footage
1964Director
1st Window
1964Director
Window
1964Cinematography
Window
1964Director
Window
1964Editor
Window
1964Producer
Artie and Marty Rosenblatt’s Baby Pictures
1964Director
TV Plug
1963Director
Blonde Cobra
1963Director
Little Stabs at Happiness
1963Director
Baud'larian Capers
1962Director
The Death of P'town
1961Director
The Whirled
1961Director
Little Cobra Dance
1956Director
Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice
1956Director
Orchard Street
1955Director
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