The Sticking Place Theatre and Film productions

amos vogel

Amos Vogel was born in 1921 in Vienna, Austria. After the Anschluss of 1938 he left his homeland and eventually ended up in New York. From 1947 to 1963 Vogel and his wife Marcia ran Cinema 16, the most successful and influential member-ship film society in North American history. After its demise he founded the Lincoln Center Film Department and, along with Richard Roud, was co-founder of the New York Film Festival which he ran until 1968. Over the years Vogel has served as chairman of the American Selection Committee for the Cannes, Moscow, Berlin and Venice film festivals. He has taught at Harvard University, the New School for Social Research, New York University and for several years at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School. Following huge public demand, Vogel’s seminal book Film as a Subversive Art (first published in 1974) was re-published last year, thus inspiring a whole new generation of film-makers and artists. According to Vogel the book details the ‘accelerating worldwide trend toward a more liberated cinema, in which subjects and forms hitherto considered unthinkable or forbidden are boldly explored.’ Described by Werner Herzog as ‘the moral conscience of the world of cinema’ and by Yoko Ono as ‘one of the great pioneers of avant-garde film’, Vogel is affectionately thought of as the Godfather of subversive cinema. Amos and Marcia live in Greenwich Village.

True Story

Amos (aged 6. 7. 8…): ‘So why did you call me Amos?’
My Mother (Mathilde): ‘Because he was a Jewish prophet, in ancient times, who preached against the rich.’

Do you trust yourself?

Totally, implicitly.

What have you done since you woke up this morning?

Washing my neck, eating a sparse breakfast, thinking about how to answer these searching and profound questions.

What is your earliest memory?

When I was three, my father read me a particularly relevant chapter of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. I cannot deny that I was strangely moved.

Do you believe in life after death

Yes. Especially Cloud Seven.

Which historical figure would you like to take out, and what would you like to show them?

I would like to take Hitler out, first to convince him that a Jew can be a good guy, secondly to kill him.

Were you a popular child?

Yes, I had two close friends, 26 who were indifferent to me, 5 who wanted to kill me.

Do you scare easy?

Well. Anything that comes up to me rapidly, and is large, scares the Dickens(?) out of me.

If you could make any one thing free for all, what would it be?

Love.

If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last 100 years, what would it have been?

Adolf Hitler.

Which public space do you like best?

My bench in Washington Square Park.

Which private space do you like best?

The bathroom.

Do you subscribe to a particular belief?

Yes. Libertarian Socialism.

What do you do for fun?

Answering questionnaires. Making love. Reading the New York Times.

What one thing would improve the quality of your life?

The absence of ‘can’t’, of politicians, President Bush.

Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?

I am not sure. Bertholt Brecht, perhaps.

What was the first thing you produced/ participated in that you are particularly proud of?

Marching with my parents in a Socialist May 1st celebration in Vienna aged 11. We marched past the Austrian Parliament and I remember the exact refrain of the Socialist International that we all sang.

What is your number one priority?

To fix what is wrong with the world, the domination of the rich, the poverty and misfortune of the poor, of all races. This has been my life-long concern, if not an obsession.

What makes you tick?

My heart. It will do so as long as I live.
(This question is really below your otherwise very high standards.)

Who do you most like to talk shop with?

Anybody willing to at least listen to – if not embrace – my seemingly outlandish ideas.

What is your principal defect?

My unflagging optimism. Obviously unwarranted.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Unquenchable optimism, marred by increasing pessimism.

What would you like to be better at?

Influencing people to do better by others.

What quality do you most like in a man?

No idea. Perhaps compassion, strength, ability to love.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

No idea. Perhaps smiling warmth, comradeship, ability to love.

What is sexy?

If you don’t know I feel truly sorry for you. Why, man, woman; it’s what makes the world go around. I would not, could not, live without it. Come on now, stop kidding.

What is your favourite sound?

You got me there.
Well… oh, I’ve got it: my favourite sound is the warmth, intelligence, forbearance, so marvellously revealed in President Bush’s immortal speeches, particularly when he concentrates — as he loves to do — on America’s greatness, forbearance, overall Godliness. Watch out Al-Qaeda!

In a parallel universe what are you doing right now?

How I’d very much like to be able to be there right now, so that I would answer your questions truthfully. But — just wait — I’m working on it.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

The utter misery and degradation experienced by our poor, by the natives of the world, by all the truly disadvantaged of the world. Somebody should make a count of them. Afterwards, totally emaciated by this effort, he would be unable to truly help them.

Do you collect anything? If so, what?

I used to collect memories of, or copies of, the best films I have ever seen, old girlie magazines, complete editions of political magazines, coloured pencils, unanswered mail. Now I collect old age insurance.

If you could turn back the clock, would you do anything differently?

Of course. I must let you draw your own conclusions. I have given you sufficient hints.

Which work of art do you most covet for your home?

A well-executed portrayal of President Bush.

Which book do you keep returning to?

I hesitate to choose between The Phantom of the Opera and The Bible.

What was the last film you watched, and was it any good?

The American Presidency: Lincoln to Bush and no, it wasn’t.

What do you predict for America?

I am a tea-totaller and hence unable to predict the future.

What is the best bit of advice you can give to someone who wants to succeed?

Try again.

How will your epitaph read?

‘Here lies an honest man’. You could also add: Yes.

What is love?

Come on now. You must be kidding.

Is life serious?

Yes, very, and there is nothing we can do about that.

If you were to ask any two questions of any two people, what would they be and whom would you ask?

1. a) Are you happy? b) Are you making somebody else happy? I would ask these two questions of my dear wife Marcia….
But, come to think of it, instead of waiting for an answer to the second question, I would smile sheepishly and sweetly and say, ‘My dear I know…’.

2. Sigmund Freud. I wonder if during his strolls through the neighbourhood he remembers a little boy who could often be found playing in the park on the corner of Waehringerstrasse and Nussdorferstrasse, in the Ninth District. If he and the boy had talked, the old bearded one might have asked the boy in question about his sexual problems, but being only eight or nine years old at the time, thankfully I had none. He lived on Berggasse, we lived on Pichlergasse. Vienna in the 1920s was such a beautiful place.