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IT CAME from KUCHAR Is a Hilarious and Touching Story of Artistic Obsession, Compulsion and Inspiration

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IT CAME FROM KUCHAR A film by Jennifer Kroot Distributor Contact: New Yorker Films 220 East 23rd St., Ste. 409 New York, NY 10010 Tel: (212) 645-4600 Fax: (212) 683-6805 [email protected] KANDAHAR CREDITS Director JENNIFER M. KROOT Cinematographer CHRIS MILLION Editor TOM BULLOCK Producers HOLLY MILLION TINA KROOT JENNIFER M. KROOT Associate Producers LEWIS GILLIAN JEFF KROOT Sound Editor MARILYN MCCOPPEN Assistant Sound Editor CHRISTOPHER BARRON Re-recording Mixer LORA HIRCHBERG Sound facility SKYWALKER SOUND Location sound recordists DANIEL PETERSON MICHAEL MCCLYMONT MARK WHELAN KAYE CRUZ Music RANDY COLOSKY RALPH SPIGHT Titles PATRICK SIEMER FEATURING GEORGE KUCHAR, MIKE KUCHAR, BUCK HENRY, JOHN WATERS, B. RUBY RICH, ATOM EGOYAN, WAYNE WANG, CORY MCABEE, GUY MADDIN, CHRISTOPHER COPPOLA, DONNA KERNESS, BILL GRIFFITH, GERARD MALANGA, JEFFREY SCHWARZ, DAVID WEISSMAN, LARRY LEIBOWITZ, LAWRENCE JORDAN, JOHN CARLSON, BOB COWAN, DAN CARBONE, FLORAINE CONNORS, MIKE DIANA, MICHELE GROSS-NAPOLITANO, BROOK HINTON, DENAH JOHNSTON, LINDA MARTINEZ, MELINDA MCDOWELL-MILKS, EVIE MPRAS, CULLEN QUAVE, ANDY RODRIGUEZ, ROCK ROSS, V. VALE, MARIAN WALLACE USA, 2009 86 min, Color In English Dolby Digital SYNOPSIS IT CAME FROM KUCHAR is a hilarious and touching story of artistic obsession, compulsion and inspiration. Long before YouTube, there were the outrageous, no-budget movies of underground, filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar. George and Mike grew up in the Bronx in the 1950’s. At the age of twelve, they became obsessed with Hollywood melodramas and began making their own homespun melodramas with their aunt’s 8mm camera. They used their friends and family as actors and their Bronx neighborhood as their set. Early Kuchar titles featured in this film include “I Was A Teenage Rumpot” and “Born of the Wind”. In the early 1960’s, alongside Andy Warhol, the Kuchar brothers shaped the New York underground film scene. Known as the “8mm Mozarts”, their films were noticeably different than other underground films of the time. They were wildly funny, but also human and vulnerable. Their films have inspired many filmmakers, including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin and Wayne Wang (all are interviewed in this film). Despite having high profile fans, the Kuchars remain largely unknown because they are only ambitious to make movies, not to be famous. “It Came From Kuchar” interweaves the brothers’ lives, their admirers, a history of underground film and a “greatest hits” of Kuchar clips into a mesmerizing stream of consciousness tale. Affectionately directed by one of George’s former students, Jennifer M. Kroot, “It Came From Kuchar” will introduce you to the amazing Kuchar brothers – two brothers who love to make movies and continue to inspire others. DIRECTOR’S NOTES The first day that I met George Kuchar I wanted to make a documentary about him. I was going to film school at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) in the mid nineties and I signed up for his popular film production class. I had never heard of him. I was instantly mesmerized by his charm, as he explained (in a heavy Bronx accent) that we would all make a glamorous “pichta” together and that we would be both the crew and the “stars”. That semester I “starred” in his class movie “Rancho Roulette”. It was a deeply inspirational experience for me and gave me the confidence to become a filmmaker. I wasn’t alone– many filmmakers have been inspired to make movies by George Kuchar’s unconventional teaching and filmmaking style. I didn’t realize until years later that he had been part of the 1960s, New York, underground film scene along with Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger and Stan Brakhage. I also didn’t know that he had been at the heart of the San Francisco, underground comics scene of the 1970s with Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith. The first film he showed us in class was THE DESPERATE AND THE DEEP, a “Love Boat”–esque melodrama in black and white that he made with his students in the early 80s. It was hilariously funny and campy, but there was something so sincerely human and honest with it’s unapologetic low–budget look and non-professional acting that is was strangely moving. One day I went to class and someone who looked exactly like George (but with a long beard) was there and instead of the upbeat, positive attitude that George normally had this George was shy, mysterious, maybe even slightly negative. I thought I had fallen into a parallel universe, but it turned out that this was his twin brother Mike, who was substituting for George. I was shocked. It turned out that he was a filmmaker too and showed us a short video about a buff janitor working out in a public bathroom. Finding out that there were twin filmmakers, making outrageous and insane movies made the possibility of making a documentary all the more intriguing. After knowing them for about twelve years I finally decided to pursue a Kuchar documentary. From the start I envisioned making a film that wouldn’t just explore their films and artwork, but one that was character driven, so that a wider audience could really appreciate how compelling and genuine they are as artists and as people. The last three year of my life has been spent seeking out and interviewing people who are as Kuchar obsessed as I am, and I’m still as intrigued and consumed by the Kuchars as ever. BIOGRAPHIES CAST Director Jennifer Kroot Jennifer Kroot is a native San Franciscan. She studied film at San Francisco State University and at San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). At SFAI she met the legendary underground filmmaker George Kuchar and he became her mentor. Jennifer frequently explores sexual identity and gender roles in her films, but disguises these themes with comedy and theatricality. She is inspired by fairytales, classic sci-fi, camp and parodies. Jennifer wrote, directed and produced the neoclassical, sci-fi satire, feature film Sirens of the 23rd Century (2003). Sirens has been selected to screen at multiple film festivals and small art houses internationally, including The San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Sci-Fi London, Anthology Film Archives in New York, The Barcelona Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, The Lausanne Underground Film Festival, The Rhode Island International Film Festival, the New Orleans Gay and Lesbian Film Festival where Sirens received the award for Best Narrative Feature and The Fearless Tales Fantasy Film Festival of San Francisco where Sirens received The Audience Choice Award. Jennifer also received the award for Best Director at The Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival. Film Threat calls Sirens “A truly unique vision.” Curve magazine says “Kroot takes Sirens places no other female filmmaker has dared tread.” Killer Movie reviews calls Sirens “Madness of the most divine nature.” See the complete reviews and more at www.sirensofthe23rdcentury.com. Jennifer’s short film The Snake Princess (1998) screened in The Ann Arbor Film Festival. Jennifer has just finished her hilarious and inspiring feature documentary, It Came From Kuchar about the underground filmmaking twins, George and Mike Kuchar. Even after following the Kuchars, their friends and admirers for three years she continues to be inspired and intrigued by their genuine love of no-budget filmmaking. .
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