In the Shadow of the Light

Jonas Mekas sometimes called the godfather of the avantgarde cinema actually dislikes documentary because he feels the genre pretends to divulge everything about a subject Still the 85yearold does not object to being filmed in the dusty Anthology Film Archives in New York which he established in 1970 The packed storehouse is a fantastic treasure trove for lovers of the experimental film The excitement of a young Italian writing a paper on Harry Smith when he comes face to face with a huge stack of film reels by his idol is contagious Especially when he and a staff member start unpacking the psychedelic animation Mahagonny that was believed lost We do not get to know everything about him and the experimental film genre but this documentary also related in form is intriguing enough to make us want to