One of the best parts of SXSW this year was catching glimpses of legendary filmmaker George Kuchar, who, along with his brother Mike, is profiled in Jennifer Kroot's documentary It Came From Kuchar. The Kuchar Brother's wild, campy underground films were a major influence on a whole generation of filmmakers, some of whom -- John Waters, Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin, Wayne Wang, Buck Henry -- are interviewed in the movie. The Kuchars were contemporaries of Andy Warhol and Kenneth Anger, but their films are much more funny-sexy-weird; they were obsessed with Hollywood melodrama and seemingly immune from any hipster aspirations or demimonde acceptance. To really understand the history of underground film, check out It Came From Kuchar this weekend when it plays at Newfest in New York City this Sunday, June 7th.
Below, some video. The first is a moment captured in Austin, TX this year at the SXSW Film Festival. The second is an exclusive clip from Kroot's film. You can see the official trailer for the film here.
#
posted by Alicia Van Couvering @ 6/04/2009 02:18:00 PM
