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document
world cinema
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contemporar
it Came from Kuchar Katia’s Sister (Het zusje van Katia)
USA
From the sly title and lighthearted credits to the screening of George
THE NETHERLANDS
A 13-year-old Russian girl in Amsterdam goes innocently about her
Director: Jennifer M. Kroot Kuchar’s latest production, this documentary chronicles the offbeat Director: Mijke de Jong after-school day – coloring, doing chores, and bouncing to light pop
Producers: Holly Million, Tina S. Kroot, lives and wacky oeuvre of veteran cult filmmakers George and his twin Producer: Hans de Wolf music. She is a “little flower,” as her 17-year-old sister Katia calls her, on
Jennifer M. Kroot
brother Mike – whose hundreds of credits, shared and separate, include
Screenwriters: Jan Eilander,
the verge of womanhood. You can see the beauty she’ll be, following
Screenwriter: Jennifer M. Kroot I Was a Teenage Rumpot, Tootsies in Autumn, and The Deafening Goo. Jolein Laarman in the footsteps of Katia and their mother. But you can also see their
Cinematographer: Christopher Million Writer/director Jennifer Kroot, a former student of George’s at The San Cinematographer: Ton Peters beauty inexorably eroding under the economic pressures of immigrant
MS: A to Z
Editor: Tom Bullock
Francisco Art Institute, lovingly scrutinizes the Kuchars’ campy landscape
Editor: Dorith Vinken
life: the mother has taken to soliciting on the streets of Amsterdam to
MS: A to Z
il
Cast: George Kuchar, Mike Kuchar,
of UFOs, the occult, sex, and obsession – while shining a spotlight on
Cast: Ian Bok, Fred Goessens,
make ends meet, while Katia has begun a career in exotic dancing.
il
John Waters, B. Ruby Rich, Buck Henry, the “8mm Mozarts” at the center of it all. Jennifer Jago, Chico Kenzari,
E F
Atom Egoyan
Olga Louzgina, Betty Qizmolli
The younger girl’s name is Lucia, though we rarely hear it spoken. She’s
E F
h h
T
2009 / color / 86 min. It Came from Kuchar intersplices their remembrances of a Bronx child- 2008 / color / 85 min. not only at an impressionable age but an observer by nature. As an
T
hood and clips from their greatest hits with an examination of George’s isolated latchkey kid with far too much time on her hands, she patiently
lead-by-example style of teaching and interviews with such under- yearns for human contact and the chance to soothe the harsh realities
JEnniFEr M. KrooT ground film luminaries as John Waters, Atom Egoyan, and Guy Maddin. MiJKE DE JonG of her loved ones’ lives. She’s also dying to understand how to grow
Jennifer Kroot studied film at San
The Kuchars began their careers at the age of 12, borrowing their
Born in Rotterdam in 1959, Mijike de
up. But instead of makeup tips and advice about boys, her adored
Francisco State University and at San
aunt’s 8mm camera to make parodies of Hollywood melodramas. Later,
Jong attended the Social Academy in
sister treats her to lessons in exploitation, proudly demonstrating her
Francisco Art Institute. It was there Amstelhorn and then The Netherlands
she met her mentor, George Kuchar.
as contemporaries of Andy Warhol, they helped shape the 1960s New
Film and Television Academy. She
newfound striptease skills. A poignant line from The Lord’s Prayer – “I
Kroot’s short film The Snake Princess
York underground film scene. They’re a complementary pair: George
graduated in 1983 and directed her first
shall not want” – echoes in contrast to Lucia’s own clumsy attempts at
(1998) screened at the Ann Arbor Film is outgoing, with a zany sense of humor, while Mike is shy, given to feature, In krakende Welstand, six years experimentation with a street preacher who has befriended her. Only a
Festival; her first feature, Sirens of the
contemplating the mysteries of the universe. Both are artists as well as
later. Since then, she has directed many
crisis gives her another chance to see what is real and good in the world.
23rd Century, screened worldwide at
filmmakers: in the 1970s, George worked at Arcade Comics alongside
films, both documentary and narrative.
international film festivals, including Bluebird had its US premiere at SDFF 28.
the New Orleans Gay and Lesbian Film
celebrated illustrators Robert Crumb, Bill Griffith, and Art Spiegelman. Keeping the focus of the handheld camera on the faces of her nonpro-
Festival, where it won the award for
Selected Filmography
fessional cast is Dutch director Mijke de Jong, whose Stages (SDFF 30)
Best Narrative Feature. The central pleasure of this film lies in the Kuchars’ utterly unapologetic
Bluebird (2005)
and Bluebird (SDFF 28) have also screened here in Denver.
and unselfconscious passion for what they do. There’s nothing self- Expelled (2000)
congratulatory here, just a deep appreciation for the madcap. George’s
Fragile (1997)
own semester-long project comes to fruition at the end of the film,
Heartbreaking (1993)
revealing the surprising finesse with which he transforms the clumsy
machinations of outrageously costumed students into a fascinating,
comics-colored world.
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