Sure I'll be in your film, if I don't have to be naked

This just in from a mutual friend of prolific Chicago filmmaker Joe Swanberg:

I told him we'd do it as long as neither of us had to be naked.

Which is hilarious if you've seen his work - Kissing on the Mouth, LOL, Young American Bodies and the upcoming Hannah Takes the Stairs. All of which I recommend. The nakedness in his films was the first thing I heard about - he was going for that naked but not necessarily titilating look. Naked as in natural. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy it but it turns out I did, and now I'm one of his bigger fans.

But the quote made me laugh for another reason. It took me straight back to my first class at the San Francisco Art Institute where I transferred to in 1975. I was scheduled for Beginning Filmmaking with George Kuchar. The class made melodramas in his own inimitable style.

I was terrified I'd have to take my clothes off -- so I transferred the hell out before the first day. Years later when we became friends, we'd laugh about that.




[Video - Hold Me While I'm Naked Pt 1 or 2 by George Kuchar]