George Kuchar Retrospective at Anthology Film Archives, NY, February 10-12

GEORGE KUCHAR 1942-2011 

February 10 – February 12

Anthology Film Archives had a lengthy relationship with George, and in the last decade they preserved much of his earliest work, including films made while still a teenager. These works screen regularly in their Essential Cinema series, so for their special memorial screenings they asked George’s longtime distributors, Video Data Bank included, to share some of our favorite pieces. To round out the series they're also spotlighting works from the collections of Harvard Film Archive and Pacific Film Archive. If you’ve never seen a Kuchar work, now is your opportunity to dive in with some of his very best.

Video Data Bank's program kicks of the series on Friday, February 10 at 7:00 PM.

PROGRAM 1: A PACKAGE OF STARS FROM GEORGE AND THE VDB GANG 

For more than 25 years, the Video Data Bank team measured the passing of the seasons by the titillating titles received from George Kuchar: weather diaries, class pictures, summer visits to friends in NY and Cape Cod, winter holiday festivities, festival visits….

George transitioned from using film to video in 1985 and VDB has distributed his work ever since, with the archive now housing all 275 of his videos. During 2005 VDB was delighted to collaborate with him on a box set of his work, making it possible for a wider audience to appreciate his treasures. To represent George’s work and to interact with him day-to-day was a delight; in addition to his undoubted artistic talents, he was funny, modest, grateful, and a real human being. This program presents just a few of the shining stars that make up George’s galaxy. 

POINT ‘N SHOOT (1989, 5 minutes, video)

ROUTE 666 (1994, 8 minutes, video)

SEASON OF SORROW (1996, 12.5 minutes, video)

UNCLE EVIL (1996, 7 minutes, video)

HONEY BUNNIES ON ICE (2001, 7 minutes, video)

BURNOUT (2003, 20 minutes, video)

HOTSPELL (2011, 26 minutes, video)

Total running time: ca. 90 minutes.