As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2001)

Synopsis: Jonas Mekas is notorious both as the contributor to New York City's Village Voice who championed experimental film, and as the filmmaker who was arrested for exhibiting FLAMING CREATURES. His film AS I WAS MOVING AHEAD feels like sitting... Jonas Mekas is notorious both as the contributor to New York City's Village Voice who championed experimental film, and as the filmmaker who was arrested for exhibiting FLAMING CREATURES. His film AS I WAS MOVING AHEAD feels like sitting by the fire with an elderly person as he spins a nostalgic yarn of epic proportions. At 288 minutes in length, it consists of thirty years of home movies shot by Mekas, primarily of his wife, Hollis Melton, and his two children. He also includes reels of some avant garde luminaries of the 1960s and '70s--people like Stan Brakhage, George Kuchar, Richard Leacock, Nam June Paik, Allen Ginsberg, and P. Adams Sitney. Divided into 12 chapters that are arranged in no particular order, Mekas' film is a testament to the way the structure of family provides a safe haven for creative growth. Sections of the film show Mekas at work at the film cooperative he created in New York City, Anthology Film Archives, to reveal how Mekas is a father both to his own family and also to many underground filmmakers. A musical score by the experimental filmmaker Auguste Varkalis, adds a melancholy atmosphere to the self-conscious voice-over by Mekas himself, dictating his feelings about what happens on screen. [More]

Director: Jonas Mekas

Director: Jonas Mekas
Screenwriter: Jonas Mekas
Producer: Jonas Mekas
Composer: Auguste Varkalis