Curtis A. McDowell (January 9, 1945 – June 3, 1987) was an American

underground film An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre or financing. Notable examples include: John Waters' ''Pink Flamingos'', David Lynch's ''Eraserhead'', Andy Warhol's ''Blue Movie'', Rosa von Praunheim's ''T ...

maker.

Biography

McDowell was born in 1945 in Indiana. He moved to San Francisco in the late 1960s to study painting at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximatel ...

. After switching to the filmmaking program at SFAI, McDowell studied under

George Kuchar George Kuchar (August 31, 1942 – September 6, 2011) was an American underground film director and video artist, known for his "low-fi" aesthetic. Early life and career Kuchar trained as a commercial artist at the School of Industrial Art, now ...

, who described his footage as the "prolific regurgitations of an 'enfant terrible.'" The two became romantic and artistic partners. McDowell directed the feature film ''

Thundercrack! ''Thundercrack!'' is a 1975 pornographic black comedy horror film written, edited, shot and directed by Curt McDowell, and written by George Kuchar based on a story by McDowell and Mark Ellinger. It stars Marion Eaton, Ken Scudder, Melinda McDow ...

'' in 1975. McDowell died from AIDS on June 3, 1987. He left his work to Robert Evans, who owned the

Roxie Theater The Roxie Theater, also known as the Roxie Cinema or just The Roxie, is a historic movie theater, founded in 1912, at 3117 16th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. It is a non-profit community arthouse cinema. History The Roxie is o ...

. After Evans also contracted HIV, he transferred ownership of McDowell's work to friends who established the Curt McDowell Foundation. The

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

has preserved a number of Curt McDowell's films, including ''Beaver Fever'', ''Peed into the Wind'', and ''Confessions''.

References

External links

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Curt McDowell
at

Canyon Cinema Canyon Cinema is an American nonprofit organization for distributing independent, avant-garde, and artist-made films. After starting in the 1960s as an exhibition program, it grew to include a nationwide newsletter and a distribution cooperative. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Curt 1945 births 1987 deaths AIDS-related deaths in California Film directors from Indiana LGBT people from Indiana 20th-century American LGBT people