Jonas Mekas, 1963-90, 35 min, color.
This extraordinary diary by avant-garde film legend Jonas Mekas chronicles Warhol’s everyday life and work, and the social and cultural milieu that swirled around him. The film includes footage from the first public performance of the Velvet Underground at Delmonico’s Hotel on January 13, 1966. Tracing an arc that veers from frenetic to reflective, the film opens with a segment taped at the Dom with Nico, and concludes with the Mass for Warhol at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1990.
Writes Jonas Mekas: “This film is made up of my film diaries relating to Andy Warhol from the years 1965-1982. Locations are New York and Montauk, the Factory, House of George Maciunas, Village Gate, Psychiatrist’s Convention, home of Stephen Shore, the Warhol Estate, etc. The cast includes: Lou Reed, Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, Ed Sanders, Barbara Rubin, Tuli Kupferberg, Peter Orlovsky, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, George Maciunas, Vincent Fremont, Henry Geldzahler, Paul Morrissey, Karen Lerner, Jay Lerner, Peter Beard, Tina Radziwill, John D’Allessandro, Caroline Kennedy, Mick Jagger, and many others.”
With: Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, George Maciunas, Barbara Rubin, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Lou Reed, Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol, Vincent Fremont, Henry Geldzahler, Paul Morrissey, Karen Lerner, Jay Lerner, Peter Beard, Tina Radziwill, John D’Allessandro, Caroline Kennedy, Mick Jagger, et al. Music: The Velvet Underground, recorded in April 1966 at The Dom. Dedication: Lee.