Ken Jacobs
1933–2025
Introduction
Kenneth Martin Jacobs (May 25, 1933 – October 5, 2025) was an American experimental filmmaker. His style often involved the use of found footage which he edited and manipulated. He also directed films using his own footage.
Wikidata identifier
Q325399
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed November 10, 2025.
Introduction
Jacobs experimented with the cinematic form over a 65 year period, and was considered one of the pioneers of American underground or experimental non-narrative cinema. He worked closely with Jack Smith, another noteable filmmaker working in lower Manhattan on several projects as early as 1959. Jacobs shot his own original footage, but worked with found footage as well to construct new works. His spouse, Florence Jacobs worked closely with him on his film projects. Both Ken and Flo Jacobs were founding members of the Millennium Film Workshop, a nonprofit cooperative that provided resources to independent filmmakers. From 1969 he taught at Binghamton University, founding a film department there with Larry Gottheim. In 1999 he began a series of works that toyed with the nature of cinematic perception in various ways, in some cases in live projection-performances. He is the father of independent filmmaker Azazel Jacobs and Nisi Ariana, a multimedia artist and musician who also collaborated with him.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, cinematographer, educator
ULAN identifier
500114718
Names
Ken Jacobs, Kenneth Jacobs, Kenneth Martin Jacobs
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed November 10, 2025.
