NEWS

Amos Vogel dies, co-founded NYFF

Lifelong New Yorker chaired many an international festival's selection committee

It would be hard to call ourselves a New York publication without immediately mentioning someone’s passing this week. Amos Vogel, who co-founded the New York Film Festival, passed away in New York yesterday. According to a press release we received, Martin Scorsese made the following comment:

“If you’re looking for the origins of film culture in America, look no further than Amos Vogel. Between Cinema 16 (which he ran with his beloved wife Marcia and which opened our eyes to Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Bruce Conner, Kenneth Anger, Cassavetes’ ‘Shadows,’ and hundreds of other visionary films and filmmakers), The New York Film Festival (which he co-founded with Richard Roud), and his book ‘Film As a Subversive Art,’ Amos opened the doors to every possibility in film viewing, film exhibition, film curating, [and] film appreciation. He was also unfailingly generous, encouraging and supportive of so many young filmmakers, including me when I was just starting to make my first pictures. No doubt about it–the man was a giant.”

Vogel’s efforts at preserving the medium and passing on cinema’s legacy to future generations are extremely compelling. Scorsese’s remarks about him are very touching (click here for the full Film Society of Lincoln Center press release).