Ken Jacobs, an avant-garde filmmaker who used found footage and experimental techniques for over 65 years, has died.
Videos by Suggest
His son, Azazel Jacobs, an award-winning filmmaker known for His Three Daughters, told the New York Times that his father died of kidney failure at a Manhattan hospital on Oct. 5.
The trailblazing filmmaker was 92.
Ken Jacobs’ notable cult films include Star Spangled to Death (2004), which compiled moving images over nearly half a century.
Ken Jacobs:
— Sean (THE PODCAST PANTHEON IN STORES NOW) Malin (@cinemalins) October 7, 2025
Five months after I moved to San Francisco in 2009, I saw STAR SPANGLED TO DEATH @SFMOMA and had my entire conception of cinema shattered. It's a seven-hour film, and I must have sat in the same spot for five before my body gave out. I left the museum in a daze. pic.twitter.com/HcEzU7QMFD
Other works include the pioneering experimental film Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son (1969), and Blonde Cobra, an influential portrait of underground cinema legend Jack Smith, a crucial collaborator in Jacobs’ career.
According to the NYT, Jacobs was born in Brooklyn and discovered experimental film at the Museum of Modern Art. He bought his first camera after a stint in the Coast Guard and briefly studied painting with abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann.
According to IMDb, Jacobs’ first film was the 1955 short Orchard Street.
Ken Jacobs’ Wife was a Frequent Collaborator
His wife and fellow artist, Florence Jacobs, was a close collaborator. In 1966, they, along with others, founded the influential Millennium Film Workshop. This co-op provided new filmmakers access “to the tools, ideas and networks of filmmaking beyond the confines of institutions and corporate studios,” according to the organization’s site. Florence, known as Flo, died in June.
There will never be another Ken Jacobs, one of the greatest artists of both the 20th & 21st centuries, a fearless anti-capitalist & anti-authoritarian, and a tireless inventor & teacher of new ways of making, seeing, and showing images. His & Flo's work is an eternal blessing. pic.twitter.com/Pga3XabWZm
— Screen Slate (@ScreenSlate) October 6, 2025
Jacobs joined SUNY Binghamton (then Harpur College) in 1969, initially teaching an experimental film seminar with Larry Gottheim. Due to its popularity, he was hired. He and Gottheim later established the SUNY system’s first Department of Cinema, focusing on avant-garde film appreciation and production. Jacobs eventually became a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
His last credited film, 2022’s XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX, a full-length collaboration with Flo, continued his later experiments with 3D-style projection and editing, known as Eternalism.
Did you catch Ken Jacobs’ XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX?
— The Film-Makers’ Cooperative (@filmmakerscoop) January 31, 2022
Photos of Ken and Flo Jacobs from yesterday’s screening. 📸🎥🍿 pic.twitter.com/IlcPDXpaUU
Jacobs is survived by his son, Azazel, and daughter, Nisi Ariana, an artist and musician.