Fragments of Paradise
- Director: K.D. Davison
- Producer: Leanne Cherundolo, K.D. Davison, Elyse Frenchman, Matthew O. Henderson, George Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt, Oona Mekas, Sebastian Mekas
CGiii Comment
Hagiography has never been demonstrated as futile as this! It's as if very little in-depth research was done and anything that was found, just under the skin, that seemed to unsavoury, was dealt with by the sword of brevity.
Jonas Mekas has more than a whiff of scandal surrounding himself and his legacy. Not that this film even attempts to address, dissipate or justify any of the allegations, rumours or facts...this is just posthumous sycophancy...how preposterous is that!
And, considering that Menkas rubbed shoulders with many great and gay creatives, the stench of his contained homophobia still manages to leak through.
Half a story does not deserve respect.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
For over 70 years, Jonas Mekas, internationally known as the "godfather" of avant-garde cinema, documented his life in what came to be known as his diary films. From his arrival in New York City as a displaced person in 1949 to his death in 2019, he chronicled the trauma and loss of exile while pioneering institutions to support the growth of independent film in the United States. Fragments of Paradise is an intimate look at his life and work constructed from thousands of hours of his own video and film diaries-including never-before-seen tapes and unpublished audio recordings. It is a story about finding beauty amidst profound loss, and a man who tried to make sense of it all... with a camera.