‘Tis the Season of Kuchar

Get into the holiday spirit with a special screening of works by George Kuchar, curated by Liz Coffey, former film conservator at the Harvard Film Archive. George Kuchar (1942–2011) was a legendary and wildly influential independent filmmaker, a longtime professor at the San Francisco Art Institute (1971–2011), and a regular fixture at Chinese restaurants from coast to coast.

The winter holiday season can be joyous, depressing, fun, or mundane, and like with his famous Weather Diaries, Kuchar channeled a range of feelings in the holiday video diaries presented in this screening. There are decided themes running through these memoirs: food, felines, friends, and family. Kuchar revisits regular guests across the decades of merrymaking, including his dependable cats Tippi and Lily.

Having worked with 8mm and 16mm since his teens in the 1950s, Kuchar found inspiration in a new art form in the 1980s when affordable handheld video cameras became available. Cheap consumer editing suites followed, and Kuchar, perhaps the least pretentious filmmaker in history, rarely passed up the chance to use a novelty wipe or dissolve between scenes.

“Enjoy ringing in this holiday season with George and his friends — and their cats,”
—Liz Coffey, farmer and lowbrow film fan.

Program Details

Lumps of Joy (George Kuchar, 2004,14 min., USA English, color, stereo, 4:3 Video)

Honey Bunnies on Ice (George Kuchar, 2001, 8 min., USA English, color, mono 4:3 video)

The Unmentionables (George Kuchar, 2009, 15 min., USA English, color, mono 4:3 video)

Solstice (George Kuchar, 2009, 4 min., USA English, color, stereo 16:9 DV video

Holiday Harbor (George Kuchar, 2003, 14 min., USA English, color, stereo 4:3 video)

Fill Thy Crack with Whiteness (George Kuchar, 1989, 14 min., USA English, color, stereo 4:3 video)