George Kuchar

George Kuchar

George Kuchar on the set of Orphans Of The Cosmos (2008)
Born August 31, 1942 (1942-08-31)
New York, New York
Died September 6, 2011
San Francisco, California
Occupation Director, Artist, Teacher

George Kuchar (August 31, 1942 – September 6, 2011)[1] was an American underground film director, known for his "low-fi" aesthetic.

Contents

Early life and career

Kuchar trained as a commercial artist at the School of Industrial Art, now known as the High School of Art and Design, a vocational school in New York City. He graduated in 1960 and drew weather maps for a local news show. During this period, he and his twin brother Mike Kuchar were making 8mm movies, which were showcased in the then-burgeoning underground film scene alongside films by Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger, and Stan Brakhage.

After being laid off from a commercial art job in New York City, Kuchar was offered a teaching job in the film department of the San Francisco Art Institute, where he taught from 1971 until early 2011. [2]

In San Francisco, Kuchar became involved with underground comics via his neighbors Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith. They both wound up in his movies and George wound up in their publications.

Films

George Kuchar directed over 200 films and videos (including over 15 with his twin brother Mike), many of them short films by students in his courses at the San Francisco Art Institute. His video work is archived at the Video Data Bank and Electronic Arts Intermix.[3] In the Critics' Poll of the 100 best films of the 20th century, appearing originally in The Village Voice (4 January 2000), Hold Me While I'm Naked was ranked 52nd.[4]

Films featuring George Kuchar

Planet Kuchar, a biopic of the life of George Kuchar, is being developed by Los Angeles production company Automat Pictures and producer Jeffrey Schwarz.

It Came From Kuchar, a documentary film of the life of George and Mike Kuchar by Jennifer Kroot, premiered at the South by Southwest film festival on 14 March 2009.[5]

In 1997, the Kuchar brothers collaborated on a book Reflections from a Cinematic Cesspool, a memoir discussing four decades of filmmaking with an introduction by director John Waters.

Death

George Kuchar died on 6 September 2011 in San Francisco, just past his 69th birthday on August 31st, of complications related to prostate cancer.[6][7]

Filmography

(The Kuchar brothers, in British punctuation tradition, capitalize articles, prepositional phrases, and contractions in their movie titles, when working together or independently)

Produced at the San Francisco Art Institute:

Videography

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Paul Vitello, New York Times (8 September 2011)
  2. ^ Paul Vitello, New York Times (8 September 2011)
  3. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". Electronic Arts Intermix - George Kuchar. http://www.eai.org/artistTitles.htm?id=313. 
  4. ^ Village Voice Poll at AMC Filmsite
  5. ^ It Came From Kuchar at IMDB
  6. ^ Meredith May, San Francisco Chronicle (8 September 2011)
  7. ^ Paul Vitello, New York Times (8 September 2011)

External links