Jon Jost
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Born in Chicago in 1943, of a military family, Jost grew up in Georgia,
Kansas, Japan, Italy, Germany, and, Virginia. Expelled from college in
1963, He began making 16mm films. He is self-taught. He has made some
20 shorts and 16 feature films, all of which he has conceived, written,
photographed, directed, and edited. In 1965 Jost was imprisoned by US
Federal authorities for 2 years and 3 months for refusal to cooperate
with the Selective Service System. On release, he quickly became
engaged in political activities, helping start the Chicago branch of
what became NEWSREEL, the New Left film production and distribution
group, as well as working for the draft and the Chicago Mobilization.
Jost made his first feature-length film in 1974, and has since devoted
to the making of a wide-ranging series of films, largely focused on
specifically American topics, in form ranging from essays, to
essay-fictions, to avant-garde and new narrative forms. His work has
shown widely in museums, film archives and festivals since 1975. In
1991, The MOMA in New York assembled and presented a complete
retrospective of Jost's work encompassing 11 features and 5 programs of
shorts.
