George Kuchar

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George Kuchar on the set of his film Orphans of the Cosmos 2008

George Andrew Kuchar (born August 31, 1942 in Manhattan , New York , † September 6, 2011 in San Francisco , California ) was an American film director .

Life

George Kuchar was known for his "cheap" aesthetics, his playful use of untalented actors and his nonsensical plots and non-theme themes. Trained as an advertising artist in a professional high school, the School Of Industrial Art, he drew weather maps for local news broadcasts. At that time he made together with his twin brother Mike diverse 8mm - short films , which in the nascent Underground -Filmszene together with works by Andy Warhol , Kenneth Anger and Stan Brakhage were listed. After being fired from an advertising arts job, Kuchar was offered to teach at the film department of the San Francisco Art Institute , which he had been doing since 1971. In San Francisco he came into contact with underground comics brought to him by his neighbors Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith . Both of them also appeared in his films and George Kuchar was mentioned in their publications.

In 1977 the filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim portrayed the Kuchar brothers. Jeffrey Schwarz, producer and head of the production company Automat Pictures, is currently preparing a film about the life of the brothers with the working title Planet Kuchar .

Together, the Kuchar brothers wrote their memoirs entitled Reflections from a Cinematic Cesspool (“Considerations from the cesspool of the cinema”), in which they humorously tell of four decades of filmmaking. The introduction to the book comes from cult director John Waters , who calls George Kuchar his favorite director and has been heavily influenced by his films.

George Kuchar died on September 6, 2011 at the age of 69.

George Kuchar has directed over 200 films (including 15 with brother Mike), many of them short films by students in his classes at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Filmography

Kuchar brothers

  • The Wet Destruction Of The Atlantic Empire (1954)
  • Screwball (1957)
  • The Naked And The Nude (1957)
  • The Slasher (1958)
  • The Thief And The Stripper (1959)
  • A Tub Named Desire (1960)
  • I Was A Teenage Rumpot (1960)
  • Pussy On A Hot Tin Roof (1961)
  • Born Of The Wind (1961)
  • A Woman Distressed (1962)
  • A Town Called Tempest (1962)
  • Night Of The Bomb (1962)
  • Lust For Ecstasy (1963)
  • The Confessions Of Babette (1963)
  • Tootsies In Autumn (1963)
  • Anita Needs Me (1963)
  • The Lovers Of Eternity (1963)

George Kuchar

  • Corruption Of The Damned (1965)
  • Hold Me While I'm Naked (1966)
  • Leisure (1966)
  • Mosholu Holiday (1966)
  • Color Me Shameless (1967)
  • Eclipse Of The Sun Virgin (1967)
  • The Lady From Sands Point (1967)
  • Knocturne (1968)
  • Unstrap Me (1968)
  • House Of The White People (1968)
  • Encyclopedia Of The Blessed (1968)
  • The Mammal Palace (1969)
  • Pagan Rhapsody (1970)
  • Portrait Of Ramona (1971)
  • The Sunshine Sisters (1972)
  • The Devil's Cleavage (1973)
  • Back To Nature (1976)
  • A Reason To Live (1976)
  • La Casa De Chorizo (1977)
  • KY Kapers (1977)
  • Wild Night In El Reno (1977)
  • Forever And Always (1978)
  • Mongreloid (1978)
  • Blips (1979)
  • Aqueerius (1980)
  • The Nocturnal Immaculation (1980)
  • Yolando (1980)
  • Cattle Mutilations (1983)
  • Mom (1983)
  • Untitled Musical (1984)
  • The X-People (1984)
  • Ascension Of The Demonoids (1985)

Produced at the San Francisco Art Institute:

  • Destination Damnation (1972)
  • Carnal Bipeds (1973)
  • I Married A Heathen (1974)
  • The Desperate And The Deep (1975)
  • I, An Actress (1977)
  • The Asphalt Ribbon (1977)
  • One Night A Week (1978)
  • Prescription [sic] In Blue (1978)
  • The Power Of The Press (1979)
  • Remember Tomorrow (1979)
  • Symphony For A Sinner (1979)
  • How To Chose [sic] A Wife (1980)
  • The Woman And The Dress (1980)
  • Ochokpug (1980)
  • Boulevard Kishka (1981)
  • The Oneers (1982)
  • Ms. Hyde (1983)
  • Club Vatican (1984)
  • The Legend Of Thelma White (1985)
  • Motel Capri (1986)
  • La Noche D'Amour (1986)
  • PRC Musical (1986)
  • Insanitorium (1987)
  • Summer Of No Return (1988)
  • La Forbidden Voyage (1989)

literature

  • George and Mike Kuchar: Reflections from a Cinematic Cesspool . Zanja Press, Los Angeles 1997
  • Jack Stevenson: Desperate Visions - The Films of John Waters and George & Mike Kuchar . Creation Books, London / San Francisco 1996. ISBN 1-871592-34-8
  • Ulrich Ziemons: Recordings of a Storm Squatter - George Kuchars Weather Diaries . transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2014. ISBN 978-3-8376-2685-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary on www.sfbg.com (Engl.)
  2. ↑ George Kuchar Obituary - Underground film-maker with a bent for the tawdry and camp, by Ronald Bergan, The Guardian, October 19, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Kuchar, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kuchar, George Andrew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Manhattan , New York City
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 2011
Place of death San Francisco , California