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“It Came From Kuchar” and Video Diaries Screened at Schnitzer Cinema

The screening is part of a larger yearlong “Queer Productions” project supported by College of Arts and Sciences, and Department of English.

 

EUGENE, Ore. -- (October 21, 2015) –  On Wednesday, November 4, the 2015-16 season of the Schnitzer Cinema continues its focus on queer American experimental media with “It Came From Kuchar,” plus two video diaries from George Kuchar. Programmed by Richard Herskowitz, director of Cinema Pacific and JSMA Curator of Media Arts, in collaboration with Professor Quinn Miller, the films begin at 7 p.m. at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus and include free refreshments.

 

“It Came From Kuchar” interweaves the  lives of the Kuchar Brothers, George and Mike, their admirers, a history of underground film, and a “greatest hits” of Kuchar clips into a mesmerizing tale. Their films inspired many filmmakers, including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin and Wayne Wang, all of whom are interviewed in the film. Directed by one of George Kuchar’s former students, Jennifer M. Kroot, the film will introduce you to the twins, often referred to as the “8mm Mozarts.”

 

“The Kuchar Brothers inspired John Waters and many other filmmakers, and their hilarious, ingenious, low-budget films have always inspired me,” says Herskowitz. “This movie is a terrific introduction to their work and unique personalities.”

 

In the early 1960s, alongside Andy Warhol, the Kuchar twins shaped the New York underground film scene. Their films were wildly funny but also human and vulnerable. The brothers’ passion for filmmaking began at the age of twelve when they became obsessed with Hollywood melodramas and began making their own films with their aunt’s 8mm camera and used their friends and family as actors and their Bronx neighborhood as their set.

 

Supplementing the feature film are two of George Kuchar’s video diaries,The Guzzler of Grizzly Manor,” a twelve -minute comedy short from 2002 and Atrium of the Omni-Orb,” a seven-minute short made in 2008 during a trip to the Virginia Film Festival. Herskowitz, who appears in both films, will talk about the experience of being a Kuchar subject.

 

Cinema Pacific’s Schnitzer Cinema series is cosponsored by Academic Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, and Department of English.

 

About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

The University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a premier Pacific Northwest museum for exhibitions and collections of historic and contemporary art based in a major university setting. The mission of the museum is to enhance the University of Oregon’s academic mission and to further the appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts for the general public.  The JSMA features significant collections galleries devoted to art from China, Japan, Korea, America and elsewhere as well as changing special exhibition galleries.  The JSMA is one of six museums in Oregon accredited by the American Association of Museums.

 

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is located on the University of Oregon campus at 1430 Johnson Lane. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. Free admission is given to ages 18 and under, JSMA members, college students with ID, and University of Oregon faculty, staff and students. For information, contact the JSMA, 541-346-3027.

 

About the University of Oregon

The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.

 

Contact: Debbie Williamson Smith, 541-346-0942, debbiews@uoregon.edu

 

Links: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, http://jsma.uoregon.edu