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I Had Nowhere to Go - TIFF 2016 - Interview with Jonas Mekas
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Jonas and I talked about refugees and memory, about ambient noise, poetry, the new film I Had Nowhere To Go, and why he's spent a lifetime ignoring Hollywood.
For more information on I Had Nowhere To Go (IMDB) and TIFF.
Synopsis
Internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Douglas Gordon (24 Hour Psycho, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait) returns to the Festival with this intimate portrait of avant-garde cinema legend Jonas Mekas.
"An adventurer can always return home; an exile cannot. So I decided that culture would be my home." Jonas Mekas
Internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Douglas Gordon returns to the Festival with an intimate portrait of Jonas Mekas, the legendary poet, film critic, risk-taking curator, "the godfather of the American avant-garde cinema" -- and, at 93 years old, among the remaining few to have escaped and survived Nazi persecution.
I Had Nowhere to Go plunges us into both a collective and individual space of memory via long, imageless stretches over which Mekas narrates, in his inimitable voice, excerpts from his memoir (which lends the film its title).
An extraordinary life story emerges as the film zigzags between Mekas' early years in a forced labour camp and a Displaced Person centre during WWII and his arrival in New York as a young Lithuanian émigré. With an immersive sound environment and intermittent, fleeting images that stand in evocative juxtaposition to Mekas' anecdotes, Gordon's film reveals in its subject a puckish humour that outweighs despair, and an unabated zest for life that both illuminates and softens the sadness.
A deeply moving tribute from one great artist to another and a singular work in its own right, I Had Nowhere to Go has timely resonance today as mass migratory movements are displacing millions of people throughout the world as refugees, exiles, and stateless persons. While Mekas is certainly no ordinary person, the story he tells is a profoundly humble one, as much about daily survival as it is about aspiring to accomplish so much more. Gordon, who is ingenious at activating memory and the cinematic imaginary, compellingly presents quotidian moments outside of Mekas' famous film-related activities in order to reveal the desires, impulses, melancholy, and perseverance that inform Mekas' filmmaking and infectious love of cinema.
Even when truly having nowhere to go, Mekas always saw brief glimpses of beauty as he was moving ahead.
Biography
Jonas Mekas - Writer
Jonas Mekas born December 24, 1922, is a Lithuanian-born American filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals across Europe and America. In 1944, Mekas left Lithuania because of war. En route, his train was stopped in Germany and he and his brother, Adolfas Mekas, were imprisoned in a labor camp in Elmshorn, a suburb of Hamburg, for eight months. The brothers escaped and were detained near the Danish border where they hid on a farm for two months until the end of the war. After the war, Mekas lived in displaced person camps in Wiesbaden and Kassel.
From 1946-48, he studied philosophy at the University of Mainz and at the end of 1949, he emigrated with his brother to the U.S., settling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.
After his arrival, he borrowed the money to buy his first Bolex 16-mm camera and began to record moments of his life. He discovered avant-garde film at venues such as Amos Vogel's pioneering Cinema 16, and he began screening his own films in 1953 at Gallery East on Avenue A and Houston Street, and a Film Forum series at Carl Fisher Auditorium on 57th Street.
In 1954, he became editor of Film Culture, and in 1958, began writing his "Movie Journal" column for The Village Voice. In 1962, he co-founded Film-Makers' Cooperative (FMC) and the Filmmaker's Cinematheque in 1964, which eventually grew into Anthology Film Archives, one of the world’s largest and most important repositories of avant-garde films. The films and the voluminous collection of photographs and paper documents (mostly from or about avant garde film makers of the 1950-1980 period) were moved from time to time based on Mekas' ability to raise grant money to pay to house the massive collection.
He was part of the New American Cinema, with, in particular, fellow film-maker Lionel Rogosin. He was heavily involved with artists such as Andy Warhol, Nico, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, John Lennon, Salvador Dalí, and fellow Lithuanian George Maciunas.
In 1970, Anthology Film Archives opened on 425 Lafayette Street as a film museum, screening space, and a library, with Mekas as its director. Mekas, along with Stan Brakhage, Ken Kelman, Peter Kubelka, James Broughton, and P. Adams Sitney, begin the ambitious Essential Cinema project at Anthology Film Archives to establish a canon of important cinematic works. Mekas' own output ranging from narrative films (Guns of the Trees, 1961) to documentaries (The Brig, 1963) and to "diaries" such as Walden (1969); Lost, Lost, Lost (1975);Reminiscences of a Voyage to Lithuania (1972) and Zefiro torna (1992) have been screened extensively at festivals and museums around the world.
In 2001, he released a five-hour long diary film entitled As I Was Moving Ahead.
Martin Scorsese said once: "Jonas Mekas is the one that gave me the desire and strength to be a director."
Douglas Gordon - Director
Douglas Gordon's practice encompasses video and film, installation, sculpture, photography, and text. Through his work, Gordon investigates human conditions like memory and the passage of time, as well as universal dualities such as life and death, good and evil, right and wrong. Gordon's oeuvre has been exhibited globally and his film works have been presented at many competitions, including the Festival de Cannes, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the International Venice Film Festival. Gordon received the 1996 Turner Prize, the Premio 2000 prize for best young artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale, and the 1998 Hugo Boss Prize.
Most recently, in May 2008 he was awarded the Roswitha Haftmann Prize by the Kunsthaus Zurich and, in 2012 the KätheKollwitz Prize from the Akademie der Künste, Berlin. Gordon was the International Juror at the 65th International Venice Film Festival, and in 2012 he was the Jury president of CinemaXXI at the 7th International Rome Film Festival. In December 2014 Douglas Gordon and pianist Hélène Grimaud have joined forces to explore the beauty of water in an extraordinary performance at Armory on Park, New York.
The collaboration continued when Gordon directed the theatre performance Neck of the Woods starring Charlotte Rampling and Hélène Grimuaud at the 2015 MIF - Manchester International Festival, Manchester. Born in Scotland, Gordon lives and works in Berlin and Glasgow and teaches film at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. He is represented internationally by Gagosian Gallery, as well as Untilthen in Paris, Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zürich, and Dvir Gallery in Tel Aviv
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636. Suzie Miller, Prima Facie & Why You Can’t Not See It
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635. The Salt Path: Learning to Be Present
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634. Truth, Technology & the Art of Deception
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633. Seven Snipers - Love In The Crosshairs
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632. Aki: A Poetic Exploration of Land & Community
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631. Little Lorraine - From Song to Screen
37:19||Ep. 631In this episode of Face2Face, David Peck sits down with filmmaker Andy Hines and songwriter Adam Baldwin to explore the powerful Canadian film Little Lorraine. What begins as a conversation about a song becomes a deeper reflection on storytelling, community and the human condition. Together, they unpack how a simple narrative rooted in Cape Breton evolves into a compelling film about desperation, resilience, and belonging. With stunning cinematography and emotionally rich performances, Little Lorraine is ultimately a story about family, survival and the quiet search for healing in hard times.Andy Hines was born into a creative family, Andy’s passion for the arts has been a lifelong endeavor. As the son of a landscape and portrait photographer, Andy grew up with a camera in his hands and the opportunity to travel and grow a world view from an early age.As a Grammy nominated director, Andy has spent over a decade working alongside musicians ranging from Beyonce, Kanye West, and Missy Elliott to Luke Combs and Keith Urban. His range has never been limited by genre or style. His work has garnered multiple MTV VMA Awards and nominations as well as five Cannes Lions including Gold for both commercials and music videos.His debut feature film titled, Little Lorraine, premiered in September 2025 at The Toronto International Film Festival. The film stars Stephen Amell, J. Balvin, Sean Astin and Rhys Darby. Beyond filmmaking, Andy has spent time as an art director for Converse special projects and as a creative director for Grammy nominated singer Khalid, designing the campaign that brought Khalid on the tarmac for his historic performance in front of the Virgin Galactic on its maiden voyage to space.When Andy is away from set, he spends much of his time in the wilderness of Canada and Northern California raising his two daughters, tending to his lifelong passion of raising chickens and goats.Adam Baldwin is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Nova Scotia known for his vivid, character-driven storytelling and East Coast perspective. Blending folk, country, and rock influences, his music explores themes of hardship, resilience, and everyday life with honesty and depth.His song Lighthouse in Little Lorraine, inspired by a real story, became the foundation for the feature film of the same name. Baldwin also contributed to the screenplay, helping bring authenticity to the film’s voice and setting.His work is rooted in lived experience, capturing the struggles and spirit of working-class communities, and continues to resonate with audiences through its raw, human, and deeply relatable storytelling.David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 800 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversationHe’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels,hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves goodconversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.
630. Colm Feore - Our Stories, Our Screens
32:56||Ep. 630In this episode of Face2Face, David Peck sits down with acclaimed Canadian actor Colm Feore for a thoughtful and engaging conversation on the power of storytelling and the importance of National Canadian Film Day. Together, they explore what makes Canadian cinema unique. They talk about its authenticity, its sense of community, and its ability to reflect who we are. Feore shares insights from his own career, highlighting the value of participation, curiosity, and simply “trying” as a way of connecting across cultures. This is a rich conversation about film, identity, and why our stories matter, now more than ever.For more info on National Film Day head here: www.canfilmday.caPhoto: Ann Baggley.Colm Feore is one of Canada’s most acclaimed and versatile actors, with an extraordinary career spanning film, television, and stage. Born in Boston and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Feore has become a defining presence in Canadian arts and culture.A longtime leading figure at the renowned Stratford Festival, he is celebrated for his powerful performances in Shakespearean roles including Hamlet, King Lear and Richard III. His work on stage is matched by an impressive screen career, with roles in internationally recognized films such as Chicago, The Red Violin, Thor, and Bon Cop, Bad Cop, as well as television appearances in The Borgias, House of Cards and The Umbrella Academy.Feore is a multiple Gemini and Canadian Screen Award winner and has been widely recognized for his contributions to the performing arts. Known for his depth, intelligence, and emotional range, he brings a rare authenticity to every role.A passionate advocate for Canadian storytelling, Feore continues to champion film and theatre that reflect the country’s diverse voices and shared cultural identity. His work embodies a deep commitment to the craft of acting and the enduring power of story to connect, challenge, and inspire.David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 800 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversation.He’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels, hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves good conversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.
629. Curiosity, Magic & Meaning
45:14||Ep. 629In this episode of Face2Face, David Peck sits down with magician, historian, and thinker David Ben for a wide-ranging conversation about curiosity, illusion, and the deeper intellectual life behind magic. At the heart of the discussion is Ben’s extraordinary collection, now housed at The Lilly Library at Indiana University, a vast archive spanning more than a century of magical history. Together, they explore magic as a “prism” for understanding the world, touching on ethics, problem-solving, and the power of wonder. This is more than a conversation about magic, it’s about how we see, ask questions and make meaning.David Ben was the sole protégé of Ross Bertram (1912-1992), one of the great sleight-of-hand artists of the twentieth century. While studying magic with Bertram, David also graduated from the University of Toronto (BA), the University of Western Ontario (LLB), and the London School of Economics (LLM). He flirted briefly with a career in tax law but abandoned it in 1990 to pursue his passion for performing, writing and community.David is now recognized as one of the world’s foremost sleight-of-hand artists. Theatrical works he has developed have been staged at the Shaw Festival, Theatre ROM, the Charlottetown Festival, Soulpepper Theatre, Luminato, the Canadian embassies in Paris and Tokyo, the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and elsewhere. He has made numerous television appearances and was the subject of the award-winning documentary “A Conjuror in the Making.”David has written several books and has contributed articles and reviews to the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and many other publications. He is the co-founder and artistic director of Magicana, a performing arts organization and registered charity, and he uses learning, practicing, and performing magic to help disadvantaged children, to fight isolation in seniors, and to help unlock creativity, innovation, and problem solving.David also tries whenever possible to give back to the community. In 2016, after losing his wife Jan Howlett to brain cancer in 2013, David raised close to $250,000 by having his signature mop of hair shaved off as part of The Princess Margaret Hospital “No Hair Selfie” campaign.A recipient of the Order of Canada, Ben has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to the performing arts and for preserving the cultural and intellectual heritage and legacy of magic.He lives in Toronto with his partner Jessica Levman, near his children Court and Harrison, and spends his spare time playing the piano, painting, indulging in culinary delights, and acquiring historical Canadian art.For more info on David visit his site here.David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 650 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversation.He’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels, hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves good conversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.