Ken Jacobs

Last Name: 
Jacobs
First Name: 
Ken

I was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1933. After completion of high school, I went into the Coast Guard for two years. The GI Bill enable me to study painting at various schools and to study film at CUNY but it wasn't until I began studying painting with Hans Hofmann, 1956-57, that I felt that I was studying with someone who had something to teach. I created/directed The Millennim Film Workshop, NYC in 1966-68; I started the Dept. of Cinema at SUNY at Binghamton, 1969; I became Professor of Cinema 1974-2000 and Distinguished Prof. of Cinema 2000; and Distinguished Prof. of Cinema Emeritus, 2002. Grants and Awards: D.A.A.D. 1986; Maya Deren Award 1994; J.S. Guggenheim Fellowship 1995; N.E.A. 1995; The Rockefeller Foundation special grant 1999, NYFA 2001, 2010; NYSCA 2001, 2007, 2009; NYSCA distribution grant 2002; Fund for Jewish Documentary Filmmaking 2003; Stan Brakhage Vision Award 2004; Los Angeles Film Critics Association -The Douglas Edwards Experimental/Independent Film/Video Award 2004 (for "Star Spangled To Death"); renew media (Rockefeller Foundation grant 2007; Oberhausen prize of the Jury of the Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, May 2007; awarded Great Prize -15th Curtas Vila do Conde, Portugal, July 2007; Gran Prix (one of three) 25 FPS Festival, Zagreb, Croatia, October 2007; awarded Best Experimental short film Curta Cinema, Dec. 2007, 2008 Rio De Janeiro Int. Short Film Fest.; "Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son" named to the National Film Registry, Dec. 27, 2007; National Society Of Film Critics Annual Awards of 2008 awarded "RAZZLE DAZZLE The Lost World" Best Experimental Film; free 103 point 9 grant, 2010