On the 100th birthday of film scholar and critic Amos Vogel, Lincoln Center is putting his life at the center of the 59th New York Film Festival, which runs from September 24 to October 10. The Vienna-born supporter of diverse film productions had a decisive influence on the American film scene. The film festival now portrays key phases of Vogel’s life, but also offers a stage for young film producers.
“American film culture owes everything to Amos Vogel. His lifelong mission to create the widest range of offers for the broadest audience with interesting and eye-opening films is still a guideline for film programmers all over the world, ”said the current program designer at the Lincoln Center, Dennis Lim, on the occasion of the program presentation.
Bestseller “Film as Subversive Art”
When Amos Vogelbaum was born in Vienna on April 18, 1921, Vogel had to flee the Nazi regime in 1938 at the age of 17 with his Jewish and Communist parents. The family found a new home in the southern United States, where he first studied economics. After that, he dedicated his life to film. Since April and until the end of the year, the Austrian Film Museum has also been honoring Vogel with a series of events.
Together with his wife Marcia Vogel, he ran the most important American film club and stood out with the premieres of avant-garde films and an unusual program that, for example, combined experimental films and documentaries in one performance. He later co-founded the Film Department at Lincoln Center and became a bestselling author with his books, such as “Film as Subversive Art”.
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