A depressed woman, Barbara, is on the verge of suicide while a man she meets in a church and a married couple try to convince her that life is worth living. Conceived as an episodic, horizontal film, Guns of the Trees deals with the thoughts, feelings, and anguished strivings of Mekas’ generation.

In this deft debut, the avant-garde pioneer paints an existential portrait of angsty beatniks revolting at the edges of American society. Starring Ben Carruthers (Shadows), Jonas Mekas’ visually bold, poetically fractured gem of the New American Cinema exults in ecstatic highs and cavernous lows.