Jonas Mekas is a champion of the poetic, experimental cinema of the post-WWII era. His impact on the development of American, and international cinema in general is notable through and…

Jonas Mekas is a champion of the poetic, experimental cinema of the post-WWII era. His impact on the development of American, and international cinema in general is notable through and through ever since he left his natal country, Lithuania and established in 1954 the publication Film Culture, and then in 1970 the Film Makers Cooperative. His mission was to ‘take a sword and become a self-appointed minister of defense and propaganda of the New Cinema.’ Something he pretty much accomplished with his detailed documentation and critical writings about the industry. The crux of his observations are recorded in a lengthy journal from which Conversations with Film-Makers is extracted. 60 conversations are transcribed into this book along with photos and stills from Mekas films, letters and passages from scripts, all of which capture the throbbing pulse of the New Cinema’s best of days.