Ken Jacobs

For other people named Kenneth Jacobs, see Kenneth Jacobs (disambiguation).
Ken Jacobs
Ken Jacobs in 2021
Born (1933-05-25) May 25, 1933 (age 91)
New York City, US[1]
OccupationFilmmaker
Notable workTom, Tom, the Piper's Son
SpouseFlorence Jacobs
Children2, including Azazel Jacobs

Ken Jacobs (born May 25, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York)[2] is an American experimental filmmaker.[3][4] His style often involves the use of found footage which he edits and manipulates. He has also directed films using his own footage.

Ken Jacobs directed Blonde Cobra in 1963. This short film stars Jack Smith who directed his own Flaming Creatures the same year. In 1969 he directed Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son (1969, USA), in which he took the original 1905 short film and manipulated the footage to recontextualize it. This is considered an important first example of deconstruction in film. The film was admitted to the National Film Registry in 2007. His Star Spangled to Death (2004, USA) is a nearly seven-hour film consisting largely of found footage.[5] Jacobs began compiling the archival footage in 1957 and the film took 47 years to complete.[6]

Jacobs taught at the Cinema Department at Harpur College at Binghamton University from 1969 to 2002.[7] His son Azazel Jacobs is also a filmmaker.[8]

In the 1990s, Jacobs began working with John Zorn and experimented with a stroboscopic effect, digital video, and 3D effects.

  1. ^ "Ken Jacobs". Electronic Arts Intermix. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "Light Cone - Ken JACOBS".
  3. ^ "Conversations With History: Ken Jacobs", interview at UC Berkeley
  4. ^ Review of book Optic Antics
  5. ^ Knipfel, Jim (September 2006). ""Movies are All People Know" An Interview With Ken Jacobs". The Brooklyn Rail.
  6. ^ Pagán, A. (2022). Emotional Materials / Personal Processes. Six Interviews with Experimental Filmmakers (StereoEditions), p. 65.
  7. ^ Bunnell, Irene. "Ken Jacobs: Educator, innovator, filmmaker". Binghamton University: Department of Cinema at Harpur College. Binghamton University. Archived from the original on June 11, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference lafilmforum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).