UNDERGROUND FILM LEGEND GEORGE KUCHAR COMPLETES MUSIC VIDEO FOR ANDY DITZLER’S SONG SOLSTICE; VIDEO TO DEBUT ONLINE ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8
ATLANTA – Legendary filmmaker George Kuchar has completed a music video for Solstice, the "pagan Christmas" holiday song by Atlanta singer-songwriter Andy Ditzler. The video and song are both released via Frequent Small Meals, Ditzler’s record label and production company.
Originally released in 2008, Ditzler’s song is an affectionate riff on 1960s Christmas holiday singles by such producers as Phil Spector. The lyrics humorously tweak western Christmas traditions to reveal their pre-Christian sources. “Solstice is about the pagan ritual origins of many Christmas traditions, and I can think of no better artist to address that subject than George Kuchar,” says Ditzler. “I am thrilled with the result. Solstice is a joyous video.”
Called "one of the great artists in the history of the moving image" by critic Gene Youngblood, George Kuchar is one of the legends of American independent filmmaking. Making no-budget 8mm melodramas with outrageous costumes, bizarre plots and spectacular, do-it-yourself special effects, George Kuchar and his brother, Mike, became fixtures of the 1960s New York underground – and influenced such artists as Andy Warhol and John Waters. Kuchar’s 1965 film Hold Me While I’m Naked was voted one of the top 100 films of the twentieth century by The Village Voice.
Though Kuchar is considered a master of the use of music in film, he has only rarely ventured into the genre of music video. The Solstice video, made in Kuchar’s home base of San Francisco, is in the director’s signature over-the-top style. Taking the song’s lyrics as a cue, Kuchar creates a universe crammed with mythic characters and ritual imagery both familiar and strange.
Director and songwriter first met in Atlanta in early 2008. Ditzler, who also curates an experimental film series called Film Love, hosted Kuchar for a screening. Kuchar documented his Atlanta visit in a video diary titled The Celluloid Cavalcade. Subsequently, Ditzler invited Kuchar to make the video for Solstice.
The video will debut online at www.frequentsmallmeals.com on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 – just ahead of the Winter Solstice. The song is available as a digital download on iTunes and at CD Baby online.
purchase Solstice at iTunes (99 cents)
purchase Solstice at CD Baby ($1)
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