- Known For
- Directing
- Born
- May 25, 1933
- Place of Birth
- Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Died
- October 5, 2025
Ken Jacobs
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 Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac; and the experimental theater troupes of Trisha Brown and Yvonne Rainer. Although Jacobs had studied painting with Hans Hoffman, he quickly gravitated to film, finding kindred spirits in radical filmmakers such as Jonas Mekas and Hollis Frampton. An early friendship with Jack Smith yielded several collaborations, including the seminal underground films Blonde Cobra (which Jona…
Filmography
movieDowntown Loft with Skylights
2026 · Director
A Date with Shirley
2026 · Director
movieBOOK OF ETERNALISMS 43
2026 · Director
movieBOOK OF ETERNALISMS 41
2026 · Director
movieBOOK OF ETERNALISMS 42
2026 · Director
movieBOOK OF ETERNALISMS 40
2025 · Director
movieBook of Eternalisms 39
2025 · Director
movieArt Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse
2025 · Self
BMT
2025 · Director
Riverbed
2024 · Director
Tourists of the Familiar 70
2024 · Director
movieKen Jacobs - from Orchard Street to the Museum of Modern Art
2023 · Self
movieBook of Eternalisms 8
2023 · Director
movieBook of Eternalisms 7
2023 · Director
For James Otis
2023 · Director
movieArt-House America: Austin Film Society
2023 · Self
movieUp the Illusion
2023 · , Director
movieDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2023 · Director
movieWrithing City
2023 · Director
movieOther Urban Lives
2023 · Director
movieFrom Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight
2023 · Director
movieBook of Eternalisms 1-6
2023 · Director
movieSpasm
2023 · Director
movieWhims of Twenty Twenty-Three
2023 · Director
movieTourists of the Familiar 1
2023 · Director
movieTourists of the Familiar 5
2023 · Director
movieTourists of the Familiar 10
2023 · Director
movieTourists of the Familiar 15
2023 · Director
movieTourists of the Familiar 20
2023 · Director
Manhattan is an Island
2023 · Director
Hobgoblin Ball
2023 · Director
movieReal Action Figures
2022 · Director
movieWhen Timofeev Moves Everything Moves
2022 · Director
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
2022
movieFragments of Paradise
2022 · Self
movieSergei Eisenstein Embossed
2022 · Director
movieBuster Keaton Embossed
2022 · Director
movieOne Dozen Roses
2022 · Director
movieAmerica Lets Her Hair Down 1905
2022 · Director
Eat the Rich: Aligning Perspectives and Other Challenges to Viewers
2022 · Director
movieEternal Beach
2021 · Director
movieAbstract Eternalism
2021 · Director
movieDouble Wow
2021 · Director
movieXCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX
2021 · Editor, Director
movieCartoonish 1-10
2021 · Director
movieA Small Misunderstanding
2021 · Director
movieAdventures of Cookie Truck
2021 · Director
movieHoffman Student
2021 · Director
movieAspiring To Music
2021 · Director
In Front of Anthology
2021 · Director
movieMovie That Invites Pausing
2020 · Director
movieTransparent Apartments
2020 · Director
movieSpiky
2020 · Director
movieStorefront
2020 · Director
movieMunicipal Building Passage
2020 · Director
movieClouds and Trees
2020 · Director
Bandit
2020 · Director
movieWhirlpool
2020 · Director
movieHubble II
2020 · Director
movieHalley’s Comet
2020 · Director
movieWater Balloon
2020 · Director
movieSpaceworks
2020 · Director
movieAnother Day in Days of Yore
2020 · Director
movieGarage Wall
2020 · Director
moviePeriod Piece
2020 · Director
movieStreet Commerce II
2020 · Director
movieStreet Commerce
2020 · Director
movieResting Merchant
2020 · Director
movieBroadway Buildings II
2020 · Director
movieBroadway Buildings III
2020 · Director
movieNeon Sign
2020 · Director
movieFlowers and Bike
2020 · Director
movieChinese New Years II
2020 · Director
movieChinese New Years
2020 · Director
movieBrick Building with Red and Green Windows
2020 · Director
movieFire Escape
2020 · Director
movieBroadway Building
2020 · Director
movieDuck
2020 · Director
movieDoyer Street
2020 · Director
movieDeKooning Passed
2020 · Director
movieSleeping American
2020 · Director
movieRoots of Manhattan
2020 · Director
movieReading Society
2020 · Director
movieLazy City
2020 · Director
movieWaiting Room Window
2020 · Director
movieNatural Collage
2020 · Director
movieBison
2020 · Director
movieWorking Girls (short)
2020 · Director
movieFriendly Building
2020 · Director
movieBargains
2020 · Director
movieCity Foliage
2020 · Director
movieBarber
2020 · Director
movieFoliage in Moving Car Window
2020 · Director
movieFacade with Face
2020 · Director
movieRECIPROCAL
2020 · Director
movieRed Green
2020 · Director
movieKen and Flo
2020 · Director
movieRain Clouds
2020 · Director
moviePAINTED POSTER
2020 · Director
movieDR. TOOTHY
2020 · Director
movieRubble
2020 · Director
movieCRUSH
2019 · Director
moviePAPPY SEES 3D, TOO
2019 · Director
movieFailure
2019 · Director
movieSebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party
2019 · Director
movieThings to Come
2019 · Director
movieMOVING ROAD
2019 · Director
movieFigures I - V
2019 · Director
movieTHE WHOLE SHEBANG
2019 · Director
movieABSTRACT
2019 · Director
movieChaos Is Order Misunderstood
2019 · Director
movieAbove the Rain
2019 · Director
movieThe Sky Socialist: The Environs
2019 · Director
movieJoan Mitchell: Departures
2019 · Director
movieOnce Upon a Planet
2019 · Director
movieDetails of Pollock's White Light
2019 · Director
movieCartoon
2019 · Director
movieNervous Magic Lantern: 3D for One or Two Naked Eyes
2019 · Director
movieDimsum and Dragons
2019 · Director
movieThe Moments: Evening Boat Ride
2018 · Director
movieTree Stump
2018 · Director
movieSwee’pea’s Favorite Eternalisms
2017 · Director
movieA Spin Through Night City
2017 · Director
movieShelley Duvall is Olive Oyl
2017 · Director
Get Up and Go
2017 · Director
Along the Elevated
2017 · Director
Beautiful Dreamer
2017 · Director
movieUlysses in the Subway
2017 · Director
Windbreaker
2017 · Director
Capitalism Defeats Life on Earth, Cab in Rain
2017 · Director
movieCentral Park
2016 · Director
movieSnow in Headlights II
2016 · Director
movieReichstag 9/11
2016 · Director
movieBMT Canal Street
2016 · Director
movieMosco Street 3: Attack of The Perfect Camera (Fuji W3)
2016 · Director
movieMosco Street 2
2016 · Director
Lurking
2016 · Director
Molten Landscape
2016 · Director
movieReminiscences of Jonas Mekas
2016
movieKen Jacobs / Victoria Keddie @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016 · Director
movieKen Jacobs / Tom Chiu of Flux Quartet @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016 · Director
movieKen Jacobs / Ghosts Of The Holy Ghost Spermic Brotherhood @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016 · Director
movieKen Jacobs / Robert Poss @The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016 · Director
movieKen Jacobs / Rick Reed & Tara Bhattacharya @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016 · Director
movieKen Jacobs / diNMachine @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016 · Director
movieKen Jacobs / JG Thirlwell @ The Nervous Magic Lantern Festival
2016 · Director
movieHydroelectric Dam
2016 · Director
I'm Telling You
2016 · Director
movieEmpty Seats
2015 · Director
movieBatchellor’s Dog and Beach
2015 · Director
movieAfternoon Tide
2015 · Director
Zazie Learns About Money
2015 · Director
Aimless Sightseeing, Seoul
2015 · Director
movieChrysalis
2015 · Director
Cyclops Observes the Celestial Bodies
2015 · Director, Writer
movieThe Lackadaisical Speed of Light
2015 · Director
movieGranular
2015 · Director
Floral
2015 · Director
Wire Fence
2014 · Director
movieCanopy
2014 · Director
Pygmalion Cubed
2014 · Director
Celestial Bodies
2014 · Director
The Guests
2014 · Director
Popeye Sees 3-D
2014 · Director
movieWhat Is Cinema?
2013 · Self
movieThe Eternal Courtship
2013
A Primer in Sky Socialism
2013 · Director
movieJoys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #2
2013 · Director, Technical Supervisor
Joys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #4
2013 · Director
Joys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #3
2013 · Director
movieJoys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #1
2013 · Director
movieEmma's Dilemma
2012 · Himself
movieBlankets for Indians
2012 · Director
movieStreet Vendor
2012 · Director
movie20 Little Films
2012 · Director
movie60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero
2011 · Director
movieSleepless Nights Stories
2011 · Self
movieOCCUPY WALL STREET, THE 99% JOIN IN
2011 · Director
movieSeeking the Monkey King
2011 · Director
movieFree Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
2011 · Himself
movieThe Pushcarts Leave Eternity Street
2011 · Director, Writer
America at War, The Home Front: Film Opening
2011 · Director
Revolving Door
2011 · Director
movieTurbulent Waters
2011 · Director
movieCinematic Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J.L. Guerin
2011 · Himself
movieThe Roses
2011 · Director
movieThe Green Wave
2011 · Director
movieAnother Occupation
2011 · Director, Writer
movieCyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman
2011 · , Director
movieDAY AND NIGHT
2011 · Director
movieA Loft
2010 · Editor, Director
movieSantos Dumont: Pré-Cineasta?
2010 · Himself
Sensoriums at Sea: Toothy Two
2010 · Director
Fair And White: Parts I, II, III and Extra
2010 · Director
Sensoriums at Sea: Dr. Toothy's New Entranceway
2010 · Director
movieThe Near-Collision
2010 · Director
movieLavender
2010 · Self
movieJonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days
2009 · Director
movieExcerpt From THE SKY SOCIALIST Stratified
2009 · Director
movieWalkway
2009 · Director
movieBrook
2009 · Director
movieBrain Operations
2009 · Director
movieBob Fleischner Dying
2009 · Director
Berkeley To San Francisco
2009 · Director
movie"Slow is Beauty"-Rodin
2009 · Director
movieWhat Happened on 23rd Street in 1901
2009 · Director
Hot Dogs At The Met
2009 · Director
Ronald Gonzales, Sculptor
2009 · Director
movieGravity Is Tops
2009 · Director
movieThe Day Was a Scorcher
2009 · Director, Writer
movieThe Signing
2009 · Director
movieReturn to the Scene of the Crime
2008 · Director
The Discovery
2008 · Director
Alone at Last
2008 · Director
Elbow Dance
2008 · Director
movieAmorous Interludes: His Favorite Wife Improved (or The Virtue Of Bad Reception)
2008 · Director
movieThe Scenic Route
2008 · Director
Love Story
2008 · Director
movieAnaglyph Tom (Tom with Puffy Cheeks)
2008 · Director
movieMomma's Man
2008 · Dad
movie365 Day Project
2007 · Self
movieGift of Fire: Nineteen (Obscure) Frames That Changed The World
2007 · Director
movieNymph
2007 · Director
movieHanky Panky January 1902
2007 · Director
movieWe Are Charming
2007 · Director
Titles
2007 · Director
Popeye Sees 3-D, TOO
2007 · Director
Mosco Street Rapture
2007 · Director
movieCapitalism: Slavery
2007 · Director
movieRazzle Dazzle: The Lost World
2007 · Director
movieNervous Lantern at Kill Your Timid Notion Festival
2007 · Director
movieJack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
2007 · Self
movieNew York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903
2007 · Director, Producer
movieCapitalism: Child Labor
2007 · Director
movieMonks of Cinema
2006 · Camera Operator
moviePushcarts of Eternity Street
2006 · Director
The Surging Sea of Humanity
2006 · Director
movieTwo Wrenching Departures
2006 · Director
movieCelestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise
2005 · Director, Producer, Editor
movieLe Prince: Leeds Bridge 1888
2005 · Director
movieInsistent Clamor
2005 · Director
movieOntic Antics Starring Laurel and Hardy: Bye Molly
2005 · Director
movieLet There Be Whistle Blowers
2005 · Director
movieKrypton Is Doomed
2005 · Director
movieSpiral Nebula
2005 · Director, Writer
Mountaineer Spinning
2004 · Director
movieStar Spangled to Death
2004 · Oscar Friendly / Ringmaster / Janitor, Director, Editor, Cinematography, Writer
movieNervous Ken
2003
movieKeeping an Eye on Stan
2003 · Director
movieThe Whirled
2003 · Director
Shorts From the Underground
2002 · Self
movieCircling Zero: Part One, We See Absence
2002 · Director
movieA Tom Tom Chaser
2002 · Director
movieThe Sky Socialist: Flight
2002 · Director
Flo and Ken Jacobs
2001
movieAs I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000 · Self
movieNew York Street Trolleys 1900
1999 · Director
movieFlo Rounds a Corner
1999 · Director
movieBirth of a Nation
1997 · Self
movieDisorient Express
1996 · Director
movieThe Georgetown Loop
1996 · Director
movieLooting For Rodney
1995 · Director
Make Light On Film
1995 · Director
movieBitemporal Vision: The Sea
1994 · Director
movieJonas in the Desert
1994 · Self
movieQuartet Number One
1991
movieKeaton's Cops
1991 · Writer, Director
movieOpening the Nineteenth Century: 1896
1991 · Director, Writer
movieChronometer
1990 · Director
The Alps and The Jews
1986 · Director
movieHe Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1986 · Self (archive footage)
moviePerfect Film
1985 · Director
movieHome Movies 1971-81
1985
movieThe Doctor's Dream
1977 · Director
movieBook of Splendors, Part Two, Book of Levers: Action at a Distance
1977 · Director
movieLost, Lost, Lost
1976 · Self
movieSpaghetti Aza
1976 · Director
movieUrban Peasants
1975 · Director
movieJerry Takes A Back Seat, Then Passes Out Of The Picture
1975 · Director
movieHorizons
1973
movieNotes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
1973
Changing Azazel
1973 · Director
movieBinghamton, My India
1970 · Director
Nissan Ariana Window
1969 · Director
movieTom, Tom, the Piper's Son
1969 · Director
movieGlobe
1969 · Director
movieHuge Pupils
1968 · Himself
movieDiaries, Notes, and Sketches
1968 · Self
movieSoft Rain
1968 · Director
movieFor Life, Against the War
1967 · Director
movieBill's Hat
1967
movieAirshaft
1967 · Director
movieThe Sky Socialist
1966 · Director
movieLisa and Joey in Connecticut
1965 · Director
Naomi Is A Dream of Loveliness
1965 · Director
movie1st Window
1964 · Director
movieWindow
1964 · Cinematography, Producer, Director, Editor
We Stole Away
1964 · Director
movieThe Winter Footage
1964 · Director
Winter Sky
1964 · Director
movieArtie and Marty Rosenblatt’s Baby Pictures
1964 · Director
movieLittle Stabs at Happiness
1963 · Director
movieTV Plug
1963 · Director
movieBlonde Cobra
1963 · , Director
movieScotch Tape
1962
movieBaud'larian Capers
1962 · Director
movieThe Death of P'town
1961 · Director
movieSaturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice
1956 · Director
movieLittle Cobra Dance
1956 · Director
movieOrchard Street
1955 · Director
movieSky Dive
— · Director
movieDepth for One Eye or Two
— · Director
movieSpotted Fever
— · Director