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“ We aimed high and plopped all over the place but only time will tell if

the stench was worth it.” Self-confessed anal expulsive George Kuchar is talking about the 16mm underground wonders, filmed in collaboration with his brother Mike, that shook up the Bronx in the early sixties. Their influence over Warhol, Waters, Vadim and Lynch is obvious; but the Kuchar Brothers have always worked for love, not money. Could you really call them camp? A camp film celebrates its inadequacies, but a Kuchar film is different - any inadequacy in production, character or performance holds poignancy and honesty as well as humour.

In the early 1970s George moved to California to teach at the San Francisco Art Institute. The idea was to have two separate classes: one to shoot and one to edit. “It did not turn out that way because my students didn’t want alien digits diddling with their doings.” The students often strayed from the playtime fun of George’s studio to participate in his assistant’s saucier productions.

If truth is stranger than fiction, Kuchar captures the truth in all

its glorious grotesque. “Once, when I had brought in a real-life, psychotherapist to portray a character in one of our dramas, a female student approached the woman after class and broke down in tears. She needed advice on the road to womanhood and sought her expertise (not realising that the therapist herself was a nut case).”

George’s work is driven by nostalgia for the past, a love of improvisation and spontaneity, and a healthy attitude toward new technology. In the 80s he and his students moved from 16mm to video, and the technological dawn of the 90s brought DVR and digital editing which changed the face, but not the heart, of Kuchar’s work. “I like to mix cheap effects

with the new digital palette and make it look expensive.”

As the power of moviemaking tools increased, the spectre of style over substance loomed. “Character development and plot took a back seat to digitally manipulated sequences designed to please the graphic sensibilities of Dr. Butcher, our editor. Since no one usually understood our pictures anyway (being that the original cast sometimes didn’t show up for shooting sessions, and the plots had to mirror who

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The broTherS who whiSTle from boTh endS

hoT TickeTS Thursday 24 sepTemBer

GHOSTED Online Q&A with director Monika Treut at 4.00pm

IT CAME FROM KUCHAR Online Q&A with director Jennifer Kroot at 6.30pm

suNday 27 sepTemBer RAIN OF THE CHILDREN Don’t miss this late addition to the programmeDelving into the underground film world of Mike and George Kuchar By Rosy Hunt

Issue 8 // Thursday 24 Septemberwww.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk

“Somebody had To Try and Save ThoSe monSTroSiTieS from being comPleTe diSaSTerS”

Mike & George Kuchar

Cambridge Film Festival Daily 2009 Supported by TTP Group

J oining the director, producer, writer, editor and lead actors of HARDLY

BEAR TO LOOK AT YOU for brunch suggests that things aren’t quite as they seem. Especially as there’s only three of them! It soon becomes apparent that actress Anna Neil has had some experience of covert operations herself, as writer, producer and leading man Jeremy Herman explains. “We always thought that we spotted her, but it turns out that she spotted him”, gesturing towards director Huck Melnick. Elaborating on the story further, Neil explains “I was doing my flower act that’s in the film. I’d certainly spotted Huck and thought: he looks like an interesting character”.

Soon after this initial meeting the trio hooked up together and worked on a film called MY YACHT. Originally intended to be a feature, Neil suggested

that they make it a short and film it in Cannes themselves. Inspired and full of enthusiasm, that is exactly what they did, the experience of which shaped their approach to their latest film, HARDLY BEAR TO LOOK AT YOU. Melnick continues, “MY YACHT was made in a much more traditional style with a much bigger crew, but having made that and developing other scripts we realised that we wanted to jump ahead of the industry projects we had in mind. Why are we going to try to raise funding for these commercial projects if we’re only going to go back and make something more personal later?

Why don’t we make our first feature ourselves.”

Following this bold decision, they set about making their film using whatever resources were available. Melnick explains, “The film world can be very daunting and I think that a lot of people get caught up in the struggle to find finance for their film. It’s important to realise now that there are various other ways of doing it. Some of the most exciting innovations that have become part of the blockbuster film started out with people who didn’t have access to the bigger budgets.” The project employed a small crew, a number of whom also appear in front of the camera, and adopted a free flowing style of filmmaking similar to that employed by Cassavetes. It notably fuses tightly scripted scenes with others of a more improvised nature.

The hardly TriniTyInterview with Huck Melnick, Jeremy Herman and Anna Neil of HARDLY BEAR TO LOOK AT YOU By Christopher Peck

or what was available at the time) no tears were shed on this new development. I, by the way, was dr. Butcher. Somebody had to try and save those monstrosities from being complete disasters”. One of Kuchar’s students at this time was Jennifer Kroot, the director of IT CAME FROM KUCHAR. Originally conceived as a tribute to her mentor, the film focuses on George, but as Kroot learned more about Mike, she couldn’t leave him out of the documentary.

In Kroot’s documentary Kuchar speaks of choosing collaborators who “understand” him – specifically, they understand that he’s broke. He builds a strong rapport with his students and comes to stylistic terms with them. He describes his experience with the students at San Francisco as “an adventure in terror with some moments of horror thrown in… Thinking of plot development and lines of dialogue on the spot will hopefully be a factor in warding off the onset of Alzheimer’s as I inexorably age, and maybe the close proximity of the young will rub off onto my crinkling flesh like a Revlon elixir.”

IT CAME FROM KUCHAR is screened on Thursday 24 September at 6.30pm

kucharS contd...

“i’d cerTainly SPoTTed huck and ThoughT: he lookS like an inTereSTing characTer”

STaTe of a naTion

Interview with Huck Melnick, Jeremy Herman and Anna Neil of HARDLY BEAR TO LOOK AT YOU By Christopher Peck

Three and a half hours with Raphael Nadjari’s documentary A HISTORY OF ISRAELI CINEMA should set you right. The two-part (chronological) documentary proceeds on the rich premise that the modern Israeli State came of age in tandem with modern film medium itself. Struggling to comprehend and articulate its nascent national identity, Israel appropriated a great range of cinematic models from Western and Eastern Europe (and Hollywood) to suit its unique situation. Hence pre-1948 ‘Zionist Utopia’ films employed cinematic shorthand reminiscent of Soviet visual propaganda. Later on, populist genres both comic and sentimental emerged to reflect Israel’s ambivalences over its complex ethnic makeup; Ephraim Kishon’s famous satires on Azkhenazi-Sephardic tensions looked especially interesting. Part 2’s more recent history charts the industry’s shift of focus from

the dream of the homeland to contentious political reality. The eighties saw a craze for Jewish-Arab ‘Romeo and Juliet’ stories, and the controversial LIFE ACCORDING TO AGFA contains brutal, unflattering depictions of Israeli defense forces. You’ll certainly need sufficient incentive and appetite to take on such voluminous-yet-focused informational overload, but anyone with an interest in Israeli sociology/cultural identity (or indeed film history) will witness a smart, methodical, expertly illustrated survey that will have you racing to check the available DVD stocks. Emma Firestone

A HISTORY OF ISRAELI CINEMA is screened on Friday 25 September at 5.30pm

A HISTORY OF ISRAELI CINEMA // Raphael Nadjari

Speaking of some of the film’s improvised moments writer Herman says, “In some cases we were really just being pragmatic. We’d book a restaurant for two hours because you couldn’t do it for anything less but the script may have only six lines in it so we had to do it, we had to improvise and some of those were the best scenes actually. Huck’s philosophy was always keep the camera running, just keep the camera running and you never know what you’re going to pick up. Because of our budget, that we were just using video, we could do it, that’s the advantage of having flexible, relatively cheap tools.” Elaborating further Melnick suggests, “What we find works best is to have a tight story, sometimes with dialogue or sometimes with a theme made up of a couple of sentences, and then

improvise from that. It gives it the spontaneity of improvisation but with the backbone of having the storyline. The core is having a strong story I think.”

With a number of other projects planned for the future, the group’s level of creativity shows no boundaries and they may be faces seen returning to the Festival in the future. Melnick explains, “The Cambridge audience is a good audience. They are very involved and you can feel that when you’re watching the film. When you make a film like this you want them to respond, it’s rewarding for a filmmaker when the audience has an opinion.”

hardLy Bear TO LOOK aT YOU is screened on Thursday 24 September at 11.30pm

Huck Melnock director of hardLey Bear TO

LOOK AT YOU © TC

There is a country that produces more films than Hollywood every year and each one at a fraction of an American budget. Nollywood, the film industry of Nigeria, has grown from its meagre beginnings back in 1992 to become the third biggest film industry in the world.

Directors Addelman and Mallal drop us slap bang in the middle of a bustling market, both figuratively and literally, on a guided tour of filmmaking that mixes modern technology with medieval superstition. The country’s sudden surge into Christianity collides head-on with superstitious beliefs in demons and witches, and such philosophies are vital to the Nollywood film industry itself.

The main focus of NOLLYWOOD BABYLON is Lancelot, a top director (currently working on his 157th film) who gathers his crew before each shoot to pray to God for success and to bless his actors and equipment.

An illuminating documentary, NOLLYWOOD BABYLON will be of great interest to anyone with a love of cinema, providing insight into the largely unknown Nigerian film industry.Simon White

NOLLyWOOd BaByLON was screened on Wednesday 23 September at 4.00pm

NOLLyWOOd BaByLON // Ben addelman, samir mallal

hurray for nollywood

Cambridge Film Festival Daily © 2009Editor David PerilliSub-editorsChristopher Peck, Laura J SmithEditorial assistant Sara CathieFestival photographer Tom CatchesidesDesign Robin CastlePrinted by Victoire Press

w w w. t t p g r o u p . c o m

I f you’ re the cultured , creat ive type ,you’ve found your workplace .

our Team (of SPieS)

Codename: Agent Button-upAlias: Adam Bryan, Development

DirectorCover Story: Finding lovely

people to support the FestivalM.I. Spy - Movie Inspiration Spy:

What boy doesn’t dream of being Bond - the adventures, the girls and the martinis!

For Your Ears Only: Sleazy 70s bearded disco rock

Specialist skill: Grappling with the enemy

Michael Palin: A Life in Pictures at Ely Cathedral © TC

audience reviewS

‘SNO ANGEL WINGING IT

I loved this film! The film gave the recording I already own so much context, and answered all the questions I might have had about how a musician as averse to discipline as Howe can work with a choir. Understanding the process for making the album - laying down semi-improvised tracks with the drummer, and adding the choir parts later - also greatly helps in understanding the finished work. But more than that, the film conveys the simple joy of making music and taking it to an audience. It’s also a great example of how to make a multi-layered and absorbing film with the use of a single camera and some terrific editing!Andy Gilham

SERAPHINE

As understated an art biopic as you could hope for.

ToP Ten: the people’s Favourite Film award1. THE RED SHOES2. TRIDENTFEST3. SERAPHINE4. CAN GO THROUGH SKIN5. TONY6. ‘SNO ANGEL WINGING IT7. BOOGIE WOOGIE8. THE CALLING9. LOSING BALANCE10. MARY & MAX

Tragedy and richness go hand-in-hand as the layers of a seemingly uncluttered life reveal themselves to be what they truly are. The times affect the main players in a quietly invasive mood of melancholy whilst retaining the feeling of day-to-day often lost in portrait drama. Tukur and Moreau provide great foils for one another. The time flies by, leaving you with the feeling of having seen a great love affair being enacted before you without realising till it’s too late. Turquog