There's Always A Motorcycle: Unmade Beds

UNMADE BEDS (1976)

Run Time: 1:17:00
A Film By: Amos Poe
Writer: Amos Poe, Paul Bray
Key Cast: Duncan Hannah, Eric Mitchell, Kitty Sondern

FILM MAKERS

‘There’s Always A Motorcycle’ is a new Vintagent series of compiled clips from moto centric cinema.

On December 25th, 2025 we lost a brilliant artist and avid rider. Below is the biography of Amos Poe written by Paul d’Orleans in 2014 when Amos joined The Motorcycle Film Festival (RIP) judging panel. I founded The MFF in 2013. I couldn’t have done it without Paul, who became the festival’s host and spirit guide. As with all of his picks, I was in awe of his connections and have him to thank for so many enduring friends all these years later. Amos was one. – Corinna Mantlo

Widely and wildly admired as a filmmaker, writer and producer, Amos Poe is a founding father of Punk, No Wave, and Indie American Cinema. The New York Times has called Amos Poe a “pioneering indie filmmaker.” One of the first punk filmmakers, he co-directed the cult classic “The Blank Generation” (1976)— a quintessential snapshot of New York’s DIY spirit. Poe’s successive films—”The Foreigner” (1978) and “Subway Riders” (1981)—landed him squarely within the No Wave Cinema movement. During this time Poe directed the public access television cable show “TV Party”. Eddie Cockrell of The American Film Institute summed it up in a nutshell: “Amos Poe is not afraid to simultaneously challenge and move an audience. Seldom, if ever, in American cinema has a sensibility of such avantgarde and seemingly pessimistic tastes produced films of such compassion and reflection.”

Poe continues to teach screenwriting, directing and production at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His full filmography and current works are found at amospoe.com. When he found out about the Motorcycle Film Festival Poe responded, “Let’s see, the technical term would be—’holy shit!, YES!!’ Combining my two favorite activities, filmmaking and riding, yes!” When not planning his next film, a re-imagining of “Easy Rider as a feminist allegory, Poe can be found riding “Black Bonnie” his 2012 Triumph Bonneville. Meet Amos in his own words.

What does Amos have to say about Unmade Beds? Watch a Q&A with him following a screening at the Roxy Cinema New York in 2023.