Ken Jacobs

Ken Jacobs

Directing · Born 1933-05-25 · Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, USA

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 Jonas Mekas dubbed "the masterpiece of Baudelairean cinema") and Little Stabs at Happiness, as well as a Provincetown beach-based live show, The Human Wreckage Review.

As cast

As director

Book of Eternalisms 39
Book of Eternalisms 39 2025
Director
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 2023
Director
Up the Illusion
Up the Illusion 2023
Director
Writhing City
Writhing City 2023
Director
From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight
From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight 2023
Director
Other Urban Lives
Other Urban Lives 2023
Director
Book of Eternalisms 1-6
Book of Eternalisms 1-6 2023
Director
Spasm
Spasm 2023
Director
Whims of Twenty Twenty-Three
Whims of Twenty Twenty-Three 2023
Director
Tourists of the Familiar 1
Tourists of the Familiar 1 2023
Director
Tourists of the Familiar 5
Tourists of the Familiar 5 2023
Director
Tourists of the Familiar 10
Tourists of the Familiar 10 2023
Director
Tourists of the Familiar 15
Tourists of the Familiar 15 2023
Director
Tourists of the Familiar 20
Tourists of the Familiar 20 2023
Director
Real Action Figures
Real Action Figures 2022
Director
When Timofeev Moves Everything Moves
When Timofeev Moves Everything Moves 2022
Director
Sergei Eisenstein Embossed
Sergei Eisenstein Embossed 2022
Director
Buster Keaton Embossed
Buster Keaton Embossed 2022
Director
One Dozen Roses
One Dozen Roses 2022
Director
America Let's Her Hair Down 1905
America Let's Her Hair Down 1905 2022
Director
Eternal Beach
Eternal Beach 2021
Director
Abstract Eternalism
Abstract Eternalism 2021
Director
Double Wow
Double Wow 2021
Director
XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX
XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX 2021
Director
Cartoonish 1-10
Cartoonish 1-10 2021
Director
A Small Misunderstanding
A Small Misunderstanding 2021
Director
Adventures of Cookie Truck
Adventures of Cookie Truck 2021
Director
Hoffman Student
Hoffman Student 2021
Director
Aspiring To Music
Aspiring To Music 2021
Director
Movie That Invites Pausing
Movie That Invites Pausing 2020
Director
Storefront
Storefront 2020
Director
Transparent Apartments
Transparent Apartments 2020
Director
Spiky
Spiky 2020
Director
Municipal Building Passage
Municipal Building Passage 2020
Director
Clouds and Trees
Clouds and Trees 2020
Director
No poster
Bandit 2020
Director
Hubble II
Hubble II 2020
Director
Whirlpool
Whirlpool 2020
Director
Halley’s Comet
Halley’s Comet 2020
Director
Water Balloon
Water Balloon 2020
Director
Spaceworks
Spaceworks 2020
Director
Another Day in Days of Yore
Another Day in Days of Yore 2020
Director
Garage Wall
Garage Wall 2020
Director
Period Piece
Period Piece 2020
Director
Street Commerce II
Street Commerce II 2020
Director
Street Commerce
Street Commerce 2020
Director
Resting Merchant
Resting Merchant 2020
Director
Broadway Buildings II
Broadway Buildings II 2020
Director
Broadway Buildings III
Broadway Buildings III 2020
Director
Neon Sign
Neon Sign 2020
Director
Flowers and Bike
Flowers and Bike 2020
Director
Brick Building with Red and Green Windows
Brick Building with Red and Green Windows 2020
Director
Broadway Building
Broadway Building 2020
Director
Fire Escape
Fire Escape 2020
Director
Duck
Duck 2020
Director
Chinese New Years
Chinese New Years 2020
Director
Chinese New Years II
Chinese New Years II 2020
Director
Doyer Street
Doyer Street 2020
Director
Sleeping American
Sleeping American 2020
Director
DeKooning Passed
DeKooning Passed 2020
Director
Waiting Room Window
Waiting Room Window 2020
Director
Natural Collage
Natural Collage 2020
Director
Reading Society
Reading Society 2020
Director
Roots of Manhattan
Roots of Manhattan 2020
Director
Lazy City
Lazy City 2020
Director
Bison
Bison 2020
Director
Friendly Building
Friendly Building 2020
Director
Working Girls (short)
Working Girls (short) 2020
Director
Bargains
Bargains 2020
Director
City Foliage
City Foliage 2020
Director
Barber
Barber 2020
Director
Foliage in Moving Car Window
Foliage in Moving Car Window 2020
Director
Facade with Face
Facade with Face 2020
Director
RECIPROCAL
RECIPROCAL 2020
Director
Red Green
Red Green 2020
Director
Ken and Flo
Ken and Flo 2020
Director
Rain Clouds
Rain Clouds 2020
Director
PAINTED POSTER
PAINTED POSTER 2020
Director
DR. TOOTHY
DR. TOOTHY 2020
Director
Rubble
Rubble 2020
Director