Directing
M.M. Serra is an experimental filmmaker, curator and author. She was the Executive Director of Film-Makers' Cooperative.
MM Serra and Jonas Mekas sign a paper in 3D.
A wholesome moment: Jonas Mekas, MM Serra, Ken Jacobs, and Flo Jacobs take lavender from a stranger's bush.
Two lesbians decide to kill their gay roommate.
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and work constructed from thousands of hours of his own video and film diaries-including never-before-seen tapes and unpublished audio recordings.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.
Activities at home with Mistress and her naughty pet.
Experimental filmmaker Pip Chodorov traces the course of experimental film in America, taking the very personal point of view of someone who grew up as part of the experimental film community.
Director of the Film-makers Coop, M.M. Serra, recollects her morning on September 11, 2001. The Coop is a few blocks from the New York Worlds Trade Center. The tape was shot a month after, while we were waiting to have lunch together.
What makes a rebel? This 78 minute documentary probes the psyche of bad-boy publisher and free speech warrior Barney Rosset, whose mid-century legal and cultural battles smashed sexual and political taboos in the United States — unleashing the counter-culture of the 1960s and introducing millions of young intellectuals to the most radical currents in literature, film, theater and politics. In his late eighties, coming to terms with his life, Barney Rosset began to obsessively sculpt an autobiographical 15′ x 22′ surreal wall mural, embedded with jewel-like vignettes crafted out of found objects, each a clue to the conflicts and obsessions that drove Barney’s lifetime rebellion against authority. A cast of artists, a neurologist, and a shaman connect the clues and piece together Barney’s life.
A series of video letters between José Luis Guerín and Jonas Mekas.
Exploration of the life and work of Jack Waters and Peter Cramer.
"This is Freud's Dora told by Dora: a fresh revelation, a successful voyeurism. We are allowed to sit on three therapeutic sessions to hear the confessions as M.M. reenacts her past: becomes demure, becomes hurt, disassociates. Her "Mum" is indicted: peasant, barely literate, wanting her daughter to be happy, "to be married" as she says in her last letter. The irony is immense: defining the abuse as secret shame, never confronting "Mr. Goertler," Mum wishes her daughter to attain social liberation in the shape for a happy (mythic?) marriage." -- Abigail Child
Using Pixelvision video transferred to 16mm film, these works map the visual space of emotional investigation.
Sound composition by Zeena Parkins. Erotic dance performance by Goddess Rosemary.
Film of Jack Smith's apartment starring Penny Arcade before it was reposed by the "evil landlords."
"Chop Off exposes the dark, fearful recesses of the human psyche by filming the body modification of performance artist R.K. Literally risking "life and limb," R.K.'S body is his medium and amputation is his art. The very act of filming him often stimulates a cascading range of emotions, from disgust to fear to dread." - Tribeca Film Festival 2009
A fantasy ad that infiltrates three leading visionary designers and their boutiques.
Premier of Lhasa Club, a small club in L.A. California. It was famous for providing an eclectic program. Jean-Pierre Boccara opened the club in 1982 and started to book punk/new wave band combined with performance artists, cabaret acts, comedians, poets and art-exhibition.
New Tribute to Carolee Schneemann with Peggy Ahwesh. Shot on location at Carolee’s house in 2010. Made in the aftermath of her death, the filmmaker revisited old footage at Carolee’s divine house to resurrect memories of her.
Spring time in my garden with Francesca, visual variations of green light and shadows.