In 1941 he fled with his family to the United States to escape the Nazis, arriving in San Francisco on the last refugee ship from Japan.

Jofen is best known for his part in the New York underground film scene, where he collaborated with artists such as Jack Smith, Ken Jacobs, and Angus MacLise.

[3] Nevertheless he was a noted experimental filmmaker in his day,[4] making innovative use of superimposition and other techniques, and influencing other artists such as Andy Warhol, Stan Brakhage, Ron Rice, and Barbara Rubin.

[16] Jofen's technique has been described as "collage-like,"[17] and in fact he has also been recognized as a gifted collagist, his work often compared to that of Kurt Schwitters.

Makeshift procedures and the dispersal of the found and discarded in restless search for coherence, so often endemic to collage, parallel the make-do strategies, vagaries and serendipity of immigrant life.