Amos Poe, the New York underground filmmaker who chronicled the punk scene and directed films such as “The Blank Generation” and “Alphabet City,” died Thursday of cancer. He was 76 years old.
His wife, Claudia Summers, posted on Instagram on December 25th, “Amos passed away today at 3:33 p.m., surrounded by his loved ones. Adios – Associated Press.”
Friends including Kim Gordon and Jim Jarmusch paid tribute to him on Instagram, with Jarmusch writing, “I love you so much.”
Born in Tel Aviv, Poe got his start by making a short musical film, Night Lunch, with Roxy Music and David Bowie. 1976’s Blank Generation was his second film, co-directed with guitarist Ivan Krall, and was one of the first films to document New York’s burgeoning punk rock movement. It was partially filmed at CBGB and featured appearances by Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Television, Richard Hell and Wayne County.
However, after a disagreement, Krall took over control of “The Blank Generation” and several of Poe’s other films, re-editing them and removing Poe’s name.
“I’m trying to be an adult about this, but they’re trying to rewrite history,” Poe told the New York Times when he learned what happened.
As the no-wave music movement was taking off in the city, he pioneered the concept of no-wave filmmaking, directing films such as “The Foreigner,” starring Debbie Harry, and “Subway Rider,” co-starring Susan Tyrell, Robbie Coltrane and Cookie Mueller.
“Our aesthetic, or the way we approached it, was that you don’t necessarily have to have professionalism or an understanding of filmmaking, you have to have inspiration and the will to completely immerse yourself in it,” Poe told Reuters in 2011.
Poe also directed music videos for artists such as Anthrax and Run-DMC, as well as the public access television show “TV Party,” hosted by Blondie’s Chris Stein and Glenn O’Brien.
His other films include the Steve Earle documentary “Just an American Boy,” “Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole” with Philip Seymour Hoffman, and 2012’s “A Walk in the Park.”
