Twin brothers George Kuchar and Mike Kuchar were the joyous oddballs of the underground film movement of the 1960s, and are among the small handful of artists to emerge from that scene who have remained active into the 21st century. Born and raised in the Bronx, the Kuchar Bbrothers grew up on a cinematic diet of Hollywood kitsch, and all manner of big-screen potboilers informed their homemade 8 mm epics such as I Was a Teenage Rumpot and Hold Me While I'm Naked, which reflected late-show clichés in a funhouse mirror while injecting them with a comic energy infused with compassion and humanity. The films of the Kuchar Brothers influenced a large and surprisingly diverse range of filmmakers, from John Waters and Guy Maddin to Wayne Wang and Atom Egoyan; and George and Mike are not only still making films, they've enjoyed long and rich careers as educators, teaching what they've learned about filmmaking to several generations of eager students. It Came From Kuchar is a documentary directed by one such former student, Jennifer M. Kroot, and includes plentiful clips from the Kuchar Brothers' films along with extensive interviews with the brothers, behind-the-scenes footage of them at work, and testimonials from friends and fans, including Buck Henry, Bill Griffith, Gerard Malanga, V. Vale, and many more. It Came From Kuchar was an official selection at the 2009 New York NewFest and 2009 CineVegas Film Festival.
