24 Facts About Adolfas Mekas

Adolfas Mekas was a Lithuanian-born American filmmaker, writer, director, editor, actor and educator.

Adolfas Mekas made several short films, culminating in the feature Hallelujah the Hills in 1963, which was played at the Cannes Film Festival of that year and is considered a classic of American film.

Adolfas Mekas was born on a farm in Semeniskiai, Lithuania, the son of Elzbieta and Povilas Adolfas Mekas.

Adolfas Mekas's sister was Elzbieta and brothers were Povilas, Petras, Kostas and Jonas.

At 14 years old, while still in Lithuania, Adolfas Mekas saw his first film, Captain Blood starring Errol Flynn.

Adolfas Mekas supported himself with a variety of jobs, including washing dishes and working as a foreman in a Castro Convertible factory.

Adolfas Mekas was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War, where he was assigned to the Signal Corps, and sailed for France in September 1951.

Adolfas Mekas assisted him in all stages of production, writing and editing, and played one of the lead roles in the film.

In 1964 Adolfas Mekas was hired as post-production coordinator and editor of the independent comedy drama Goldstein, which was co-directed by Ben Manaster and Philip Kaufman.

In spite of the performance of Hurd Hatfield, who played two parts in the film, there were problems with the production from the start, and Adolfas Mekas never got to do a final cut.

Adolfas Mekas was encouraged by Howard Hausman of the William Morris Agency, who had seen promise in Hallelujah the Hills and had made more than a few attempts at getting Mekas's scripts into the hands of independent producers who would understand their style.

In 1967, with a very tight budget, Adolfas Mekas made a 16mm black-and-white film from his own script, Windflowers, Elegy for a Draft Dodger.

Shortly after the completion of Windflowers, Adolfas was contacted by Governor Harold E Hughes of Iowa and his staff.

Adolfas Mekas had no experience in the genre, but the challenge was enticing and he spent the summer of 1967 filming Hughes as he stumped the Iowa cornfields.

Adolfas Mekas produced 35 TV commercials for Hughes's election campaign, which was ultimately successful.

In 1968 Adolfas Mekas wrote, directed, and starred in a 3-minute short entitled Interview with the Ambassador from Lapland.

Adolfas Mekas edited and subtitled Companeras and Companeros in 1970.

Adolfas Mekas edited three versions, one for United States release, one for European release, and one for Cuban release.

In 1972, assisted by Pola Chapelle, Adolfas Mekas completed an autobiographical film that documented his return to Lithuania after a 27-year absence.

On 3 July 1971, Adolfas Mekas received a teaching contract from Bard College.

Adolfas Mekas was not discouraged and, once a year, rented a truck and, together with Pola, visited film friends in New York City.

Adolfas Mekas had no name for her at the time, but took a photo and displayed it in the Film Department.

Adolfas Mekas taught film courses at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and was a visiting lecturer at many institutions around the country.

Adolfas Mekas died in the early morning of 31 May 2011.