Ken Jacobs
Directing
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.
Known for
Directing279
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
BMT
2025
Director
Riverbed
2024
Director
movieBook of Eternalisms 8
2023
Director
movieBook of Eternalisms 7
2023
Director
movieDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2023
Director
movieUp the Illusion
2023
Director
movieWrithing City
2023
Director
movieOther Urban Lives
2023
Director
movieBook of Eternalisms 1-6
2023
Director
movieSpasm
2023
Director
movieReal Action Figures
2022
Director
movieBuster Keaton Embossed
2022
Director
movieOne Dozen Roses
2022
Director
movieEternal Beach
2021
Director
movieAbstract Eternalism
2021
Director
movieDouble Wow
2021
Director
movieXCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX
2021
Director
movieCartoonish 1-10
2021
Director
movieHoffman Student
2021
Director
movieAspiring To Music
2021
Director
movieStorefront
2020
Director
movieSpiky
2020
Director
movieTransparent Apartments
2020
Director
movieClouds and Trees
2020
Director
Bandit
2020
Director
movieHubble II
2020
Director
movieWhirlpool
2020
Director
movieWater Balloon
2020
Director
movieHalley’s Comet
2020
Director
movieSpaceworks
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
2020
Director
movieChinese New Years II
2020
Director
movieBroadway Building
2020
Director
movieDuck
2020
Director
movieFire Escape
2020
Director
movieDeKooning Passed
2020
Director
movieDoyer Street
2020
Director
movieSleeping American
2020
Director
movieWaiting Room Window
2020
Director
movieNatural Collage
2020
Director
movieReading Society
2020
Director
movieLazy City
2020
Director
movieRoots of Manhattan
2020
Director
movieFriendly Building
2020
Director
movieBison
2020
Director
movieWorking Girls (short)
2020
Director
movieBargains
2020
Director
movieCity Foliage
2020
Director
movieBarber
2020
Director
movieFacade with Face
2020
Director
movieRECIPROCAL
2020
Director
movieKen and Flo
2020
Director
movieRed Green
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
movieThings to Come
2019
Director
movieMOVING ROAD
2019
Director
movieFigures I - V
2019
Director
movieTHE WHOLE SHEBANG
2019
Director
movieABSTRACT
2019
Director
movieAbove the Rain
2019
Director
movieOnce Upon a Planet
2019
Director
movieCartoon
2019
Director
movieDimsum and Dragons
2019
Director
movieTree Stump
2018
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 2
2016
Director
Lurking
2016
Director
movieHydroelectric Dam
2016
Director
movieEmpty Seats
2015
Director
movieAfternoon Tide
2015
Director
movieChrysalis
2015
Director
movieGranular
2015
Director
Floral
2015
Director
Wire Fence
2014
Director
movieCanopy
2014
Director
The Guests
2014
Director
movieBlankets for Indians
2012
Director
movieStreet Vendor
2012
Director
movie20 Little Films
2012
Director
movieSeeking the Monkey King
2011
Director
America at War, The Home Front: Film Opening
2011
Director
movieTurbulent Waters
2011
Director
movieThe Roses
2011
Director
movieThe Green Wave
2011
Director
movieAnother Occupation
2011
Director
movieDAY AND NIGHT
2011
Director
movieA Loft
2010
Director
movieThe Near-Collision
2010
Director
Fair And White: Parts I, II, III and Extra
2010
Director
movieWalkway
2009
Director
movieBrook
2009
Director
movieBob Fleischner Dying
2009
Director
movieBrain Operations
2009
Director
movie"Slow is Beauty"-Rodin
2009
Director
movieGravity Is Tops
2009
Director
movieThe Day Was a Scorcher
2009
Director
movieThe Signing
2009
Director
Elbow Dance
2008
Director
movieThe Scenic Route
2008
Director
Love Story
2008
Director
movieNymph
2007
Director
movieWe Are Charming
2007
Director
Titles
2007
Director
movieCapitalism: Slavery
2007
Director
movieCapitalism: Child Labor
2007
Director
movieInsistent Clamor
2005
Director
movieKrypton Is Doomed
2005
Director
movieSpiral Nebula
2005
Director
movieStar Spangled to Death
2004
Director
movieKeeping an Eye on Stan
2003
Director
movieThe Whirled
2003
Director
movieA Tom Tom Chaser
2002
Director
movieFlo Rounds a Corner
1999
Director
movieDisorient Express
1996
Director
movieThe Georgetown Loop
1996
Director
movieLooting For Rodney
1995
Director
movieKeaton's Cops
1991
Director
movieChronometer
1990
Director
moviePerfect Film
1985
Director
movieThe Doctor's Dream
1977
Director
movieSpaghetti Aza
1976
Director
movieUrban Peasants
1975
Director
movieBinghamton, My India
1970
Director
movieGlobe
1969
Director
movieSoft Rain
1968
Director
movieAirshaft
1967
Director
movieThe Sky Socialist
1966
Director
movie1st Window
1964
Director
movieWindow
1964
Director
movieThe Winter Footage
1964
Director
Winter Sky
1964
Director
movieTV Plug
1963
Director
movieBlonde Cobra
1963
Director
movieBaud'larian Capers
1962
Director
movieThe Death of P'town
1961
Director
movieLittle Cobra Dance
1956
Director
movieOrchard Street
1955
Director
movieSky Dive
Director
movieDepth for One Eye or Two
Director
movieSpotted Fever
Director
Acting37
movieEmma's Dilemma
2012
Himself
movieStar Spangled to Death
2004
Oscar Friendly / Ringmaster / Janitor
movieHe Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1986
Self (archive footage)
movieHuge Pupils
1968
Himself
Writing8
movieSpiral Nebula
2005
Writer
movieKeaton's Cops
1991
Writer
Editing5
Crew3
movieJoys of Waiting for the Broadway Bus #2
2013
Technical Supervisor
movieStar Spangled to Death
2004
Cinematography
movieWindow
1964
Cinematography
Production3
Camera1
movieMonks of Cinema
2006
Camera Operator