Watch unlimited films online for $6.99.
Try MUBI for FREE.
 

I, an Actress

United States

1977

10 Min
Black and White
English
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

   |   

DIR George Kuchar

DP Mark Baptista

CAST George Kuchar, Barbara Lapsley

SOUND Perry Carlson, Chonita Jones

Synopsis

This film was shot in ten minutes with four or five students of mine at the San Francisco Art Institute. It was to be a screen-test for a girl in the class. She wanted something to show producers of theatrical productions, as the girl was interested in an acting career. By the time all the heavy equipment was set up the class was just about over; all we had was ten minutes. Since 400 feet of film takes ten minutes to run through the camera … that was the answer: Just start it and don’t stop till it runs out. I had to get into the act to speed things up so, in a way, this film gives an insight into my directing techniques while under pressure. –George Kuchar

Director

Original

George Kuchar

George Kuchar (born August 31, 1942, New York City) is an American film director, known for his “low-fi” aesthetic, playful use of no-talent actors, plotless plots, and themeless themes. Trained as a commercial artist in a vocational high school, the School of Industrial Art, he drew weather maps for a local news show. During this period, he and his twin brother Mike Kuchar were making 8mm movies which were showcased in the then-burgeoning underground film scene alongside films by Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger, and Stan Brakhage.

After being laid off from a commercial art job in New York City, Kuchar was offered a teaching job in the film department of the San Francisco Art Institute, where he has taught since 1971. It was in San Francisco that he became involved with underground comics via his neighbors Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith. They both wound up in his movies and George wound up in their publications.

Planet Kuchar, a biopic of the life of George Kuchar… read more

Wall

Displaying 2 wall posts.
Picture of herbie s

herbie s

25Feb12

One of the funniest films in history!

Picture of Viktor Pedersen

Viktor Pedersen

7Nov10

Kuchar has a great talent for dialogue. Its as always funny, and just performed in an overplayed way or an no-emotion fashion . This was a great look at how he directs under pressure, and I must say that I am glad Im not the actor in this one.

herbie s likes this

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 37 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Daily Briefing. 25 titles added to the National Film Registry

By David Hudson on December 28, 2011

Also: Best of 2011 from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, In Review Online and more. And 11-year-old Scorsese’s storyboards.

read article

Lists

Displaying 5 of 14 lists.

Reviews

No reviews yet — Write the first

Forum

Displaying 0 discussion topics.