George Kuchar

Together with his twin brother Mike, George Kuchar started making films with the 8mm camera that was his 12^th birthday present. Recruiting actors from among friends and neighbours, the Kuchar brothers filmed dozens of hypersexualized satires of Hollywood cinema that celebrate the emotions, obsessions and repressions of over-the-top characters, earning themselves the censorship of the Bronx schools and film clubs where they showed their works. When they were just 20, their cinema was shown by Jonas Mekas in Manhattan and recognized as a milestone in the New American Cinema. In 1962, George and Mike began to make films separately and, in 1965, they made their first 16mm productions.

In 1971, after some years working as a commercial artist, George left New York to teach film production at the San Francisco Art Institute, a job he continued to hold until his death in 2011. In San Francisco he experienced sexual liberation and established a long-lasting relationship with filmmaker Curt McDowell. Throughout the four decades he lived in California, his production became increasingly prolific; he kept up his personal production and every year made films, and later videos, with his students. In 1985, George replaced 16mm with low-end video formats, making over 150 pieces, most in diary format.