A Kuchar Kristmas
George Kuchar (1942-2011) made hundreds of “pictures,” as he called them, some alone and others as collaborations with his twin brother Mike or with his students at the San Francisco Art Institute where he taught filmmaking for forty years. Kuchar's intimate, eccentric and diaristic documentaries include a series of shorts about the emotional overload and release of the holidays, a selection of which are offered here as a tribute to Kuchar's unique voice and vision.
PROGRAM
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Dingleberry Jingles
Directed by George Kuchar.
US, 1994, digital video, color, 20 min.
Christmas is here again in this diary of glittering gifts, furry friends, underground movie making, and grotesque greetings. A veneer of good cheer coats the surface like thin ice, so proceed with caution! – George Kuchar
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Tummy Ache Times
Directed by George Kuchar.
US, 2010, digital video, color, 25 min.
It's the season of joy once again and this video depicts the tasty and the troublesome in big, heaping spoonfuls. Witness a social whirlpool of whipped confections and stripped confessions tastefully prepared in soupy symbolism. See man and domesticated mammals share in the bounty of a cosmopolitan cornucopia. Feast your eyes and ears on the snap-crackle-and-pop culture of a city simmering in smut. Swallow it all in the 4:3 format and good luck in the digestive department. – GK
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Solstice: an Andy Ditzler Song
Directed by George Kuchar.
US, 2009, digital video, color, 5 min.
Solstice is a music video illustrating the feelings inspired by this holiday song written by a young man I met in Atlanta, Georgia, Andy Ditzler. My students and I, at the San Francisco Art Institute, concocted the visuals to accompany the tune and the result should evaluate all those suffering from blues of every shade and intensity. – GK
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The Flakes of Winter
Directed by George Kuchar.
US, 1988, digital video, color, 35 min.
A George Kuchar Holiday Annual.Marc Kehoe, Sharon Greytak star Dan Carbone clan in CT, Lisa Brogan, Brogan bunch, Floraine Conners, Miss Stella K. An Xmas greeting in Pixels. Snow falls gently in the background as kielbasa is cut and Walter Kapsuta mans the accordion in this Christmas special. Also on board is filmmaker Sharon Greytak, as she and I discuss matters of the flesh and joints. The snowscapes of Connecticut and the Bronx are viewed through the filter of domestic hellishness. Full of ominous Christmas cheer. – GK
