CineVegas 2009

If you're looking to track the birth of independent cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, when the "underground movie" was born, the atomic nucleus of the creative explosion might have been the Kuchar Brothers.

In the public’s eyes, only so-called professionals and famous studios with lots of money made the movies. But George and Mike Kuchar didn’t care. Pulling together friends and the tiniest of shoestring budgets, the Kuchar Brothers made hundreds of films of all lengths on their 8mm cameras, dubbing the dialogue and adding in wild soundtracks. Working together and individually, they spiked sexual anxiety with flying saucers, forbidden desires with booming orchestras — somehow bridging the burgeoning pop art world with the melodramatic Technicolor of Hollywood. The films of the Kuchars are constantly funny, often heart-tugging, and always original.

Director Jennifer Kroot takes us on the roller coaster trip that has been the brothers’ lives from the 50’s to today, from the early days of borrowing their Aunt’s camera through making big feature films, chasing tornadoes and teaching students on video. Kuchar devotees like Buck Henry and John Waters help guide us through the lurid journey, which will send you into the streets wanting to be a star. Whatever indie cinema is today owes a huge debt to the Kuchars.