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A HIGHWAY CALLED 301 (2010)
"...riding up 301 from Florida to Delaware puts you past skeletons,
husks, lost memories sprinkled among the weather, accidents and
punctuated buzz of life-still-lived. They’ve taken the time to
meditate on the dross, and because Koszulinski is perceptive as hell in
shooting and editing, they have a rich cinematic spine."
Read the full review at filmsfolded.com
IMMOKALEE U.S.A. (2008)
"The
immense power of this documentary comes from Koszulinski's ability to
show rather than tell. This movie will haunt you for days." - Georgia Menides, Film
Threat
"Much more than just some kind of inside look at legalized slave
labor... This truly is an outstanding piece
of documentary filmmaking… Certainly one of the best independent
films I have seen this year." - Josh Samford, Rogue
Cinema
“Koszulinski
is a real artist. Immokalee, U.S.A., is one of the most beautiful docs I've ever
seen." - Mike Everleth, Badlit.com
"...An
aesthetically pure documentary in the vérité tradition...
[provides] an opening for self-reflection rather than didactic
sermonizing." - Maine International
Film Festival
“A
skillfully made documentary which highlights the plight of a group of
largely ignored and forgotten people." - Simon Hill,
Celluloid Dreams
“…a
work of immense humility and compassion. Indeed, there is a master's hand at play here, in
what is the best documentary we've seen in a very, very, very
long time.”
-
Cinemainacave.com
"It's a
study of the American Dream, and it's a much-needed splash of cold water in your
face."
- Drew Gemmer, The Portland Mercury
CRACKER CRAZY (2007)
"Wielding his (Super) 8mm camera like a pickax, Miami-bred filmmaker
Georg Koszulinski... exposes every little-known fact, racial injustice
and flat out
catastrophe along the way... should probably be mandatory viewing for
all
Sunshine state residents." - Jacksonville's
Folio Weekly, March 2007
"...A
brave and poignant look at the true history of Florida. Koszulinski's talent shows
through in both his love and animosity for his home state. "
- Joshua Zeman, Producer, The Station Agent
"Koszulinski did his homework - he plundered state archives for vintage
images and footage to mix with his own original footage... which traces
the Sunshine
State's
history from the earliest inhabitants to the present day."
- The Tallahassee Democrat, April 20, 2007
“'Cracker'
enters some impossibly foreboding and shockingly unheard of selections
from the history books... invaluable as a tool to better understand how
the state came to be." - Brian Orndorf, EFilmCritic.com
“Stick
a q-tip in one of Mickey Mouse’s ears and what comes out is
‘Cracker Crazy:’ it’s not always pretty, but
it’s real. Like a tsunami scouring Florida's coastline,
Koszulinski’s latest film wipes away the state’s sanitized
history to reveal the sludge underneath. I loved it.”
- Jerald T.
Milanich, Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History and author,
Florida Indians from Ancient Times to the Present
Cracker Crazy REVIEW by Talking Pictures, UK
Down
and Dirty: Atlanta Underground Film Festival mixes it up
By Felicia Feaster;
Creative Loafing/Atlanta, GA
Originally
published August 15, 2007
Cracker Crazy: The Invisible Histories of the Sunshine State
“*****”
Cultural collagist Georg Koszulinski's film is a visual essay composed of
footage culled from the Florida State Archives and music from the
Florida Folklife Collection. Koszulinski's revisionist take on the Sunshine State counters the booster
veneer of Florida as a paradise of
luscious bathing beauties, alligator wrestling and Disney World.
Instead, Koszulinski suggests Florida's history is composed of
a cycle of violence and exploitation, first of the Indians by European
colonists and then of blacks by racist citizens and politicians. Though
there are passages of snooze-inducing didacticism that will project
viewers back to middle-school history class, Koszulinski's
goal to breathe a dose of reality into the omissions and outright lies
of American history is surely a worthwhile effort.
SILENT VOYEUR (2004)
Feb.
4th 2008 REVIEW of Silent Voyeur at
Bad Lit
SILENT
VOYEUR www.filmthreat.com
2004, Un-rated, 80 Minutes, Substream Films
Excuse me
if I sound a little disoriented. This may be a weird review. But I just
had my head batted around for the past few hours. Not that this was a
three hour movie, but when I was done watching Georg
Koszulinski’s “Silent
Voyeur”, I had to immediately check it out again. This is a rare
occurrence and a very pleasant surprise, but there were was a lot going
on this film that I don’t think can be fully captured with one
viewing. And I think that says a lot about a film when it inspires you
to want to see it again right away.
Here’s
the lowdown. A naked man wakes up in the middle of the Florida
Everglades. He has a wound on his head and is suffering from amnesia.
He wanders around for a while, wondering what it is that happened that
landed him in this situation, when he stumbles upon an old house. This
is when he kinda starts to remember
things. He remembers the truck parked outside as his. But when he takes
a peek inside the house, he has no idea why a distraught couple is
pointing a shotgun at a chained up man. Entering the house and seizing
the shotgun, it is now up to our amnesiac to figure out just what the
hell is going on here. And welcome to the bulk of our film. It’s
a classic he said, she said conundrum as the distraught couple swear up
and down that they are his friends and that they were all captured by
the now chained man and his buddy who has already been shot dead. Their
tale involves the three of them being brought back to the house where
they were forced to perform disgusting acts before a videocamera with the threat of death hanging
before them. But the chained man has a different story. He claims that
the amnesiac was the conductor of this whole sordid affair as he was
hired by three very powerful and wealthy men to make a snuff film for
them. So the viewer is bombarded with these two conflicting stories
that can change detail within a single shot. But in the end, all is
made clear, it’s just one helluva trip getting there.
Apart from
the gripping storytelling, “Silent Voyeur”, which was shot
on film, looks amazing. From moment one you’re drawn in, opening
you up for this sick tale if you’re able to stomach it. The cast
also does a great job of selling these twisted scenarios. “Silent
Voyeur” is an experience and it’s one that’s not
likely to be forgotten easily. I hope I haven’t been too vague
here as I wouldn’t want to ruin anything for you, but I do hope
that this review has made you curious enough to check out “Silent
Voyeur” when it plays a festival near you.
BLOOD OF THE BEAST (2003)
Blood of the Beast www.filmthreat.com:
2003, Un-rated, 70 Minutes, Substream Films
Mama says technology is the DEVIL! And Mama would definitely be right
in Georg Koszulinski’s
“Blood of the Beast” when the first strand of human clones
go ape shit nineteen years after their inception and turn into
blood-thirsty zombies. Yeah, it is a little like 28 Days Later, I
guess, with the world being thrown into an upheaval due to some
dangerously Godlike laboratory tinkerings.
Yet, Koszulinski had a way smaller budget
to work with and wound up pulling something off with a punch just about
as nasty.
In
“Blood of the Beast,” the Third World War comes in year
2012, ultimately killing off a third of the Earth’s population
and rendering the surviving males sterile. Enter human cloning, which
proves to be successful for a while, until the first strand of cloned
humans turns in to zombies. The film opens shortly after this happens.
We then follow a group of people blindly trying to find safety in a
world quickly going mad.
“Blood
of the Beast” is at its best when it’s playing with
narrative convention. The film starts off with the whole war and
cloning back story being told over digitally altered archival war
footage. Very cool stuff and the addition of a warped soundtrack helps
quite a bit in plunging the viewer into this grim look into the
future...while looking at horrors of the past. The sounds and music
used throughout this film, in fact, are reminiscent of Throbbing
Gristle aural warfare. Another example of Koszulinski’s
experimentation comes towards the end of the film where our heroes are
running from escaped convict zombies in the woods. The video turns to a
night-vision black and white and the dialogue is replaced with
occasional dialogue cards, allowing the creative audio design to
grandstand once more before the end credits roll. However, the film
does drag a bit when it plays like a normal shot on video production. A
lot of walking around in the woods, bitching and moaning about the
state of things occurs in-between the more creatively helmed segments.
Still, this a memorable film that puts itself at the
head of the pack of independently produced horror films. It’s
smarter than most and even though it’s clear it was made on a
micro-budget, it doesn’t come off as cheap. A creative and
haunting output from a filmmaker who I’d like to see what else he
has up his sleeve.
Blood of the Beast: Local
film shows in Gainesville
September 3, 2003, Volume 2, Issue 9 of The
Satellite -
Local
filmmaker Georg Koszulinski's
latest offering finds him mining the depths of probably the two most
difficult genres: science fiction and suspense/horror. Generally these
genres combined with no budget means bad props and even worse dialogue
and ultimately a waste of time. To his immense credit Koszulinski pulls it off in a surprising manner
and provides us with a film worth watching.
Set in the
year 2031, we find the planet with 98 percent of its population dead
after a third world war. Humans, being the enterprising creatures that
they are, decide to quickly repopulate the planet through cloning.
However, all is not well with this process and we find the protagonist
(played by the director) in increasingly desperate circumstances as a
result of poorly behaved clones. Koszulinski
opens the film with an extensive montage of archival footage of war and
mayhem. This serves to provide a great deal of exposition without
heavily resorting to text to bring the viewer up to speed. This is
likely a case of necessity and lack of a budget leading to creativity.
Regardless, the use of archival footage works brilliantly. He is also
able to convey the dread and despair of the characters at various
points in the film through old film stock and abstract images. The film
was partially shot in the pine scrub of the Ocala National Forest. In a weird way, this
location also contributes to the dystopic,
post apocalypse atmosphere of the film.
It's clear Koszulinski is not only a maker of films but
also a student of the cinema and his influences range wide and deep.
His understanding of narrative and how to break out of it leads to his
use of techniques rarely seen today but common in an earlier era of
silent film. The film is currently on the festival circuit but you'll
have a chance to catch it in town on Sept 15.
-Rick Orifez, Satellite Magazine
Sci-Fi and Futuristic
Horrors,
Chuck Boring www.einsiders.com, June 29, 2003
In an auditorium filled with sci-fi and horror aficionados,
I expected my interest in most of the works from this genre to be
minimal. One of the works, however, haunts me even as I write this
piece.
Georg Koszulinski’s
67-minute work is an act of psychological warfare upon the
viewer’s senses. Set in the year 2012, the Earth’s
population has been decimated by wars and an epidemic of male
impotence. The powers-that-be resort to cloning, only to see the
first-strand of their product turn cannibalistically awry. Utilizing a
wide array of camera effects and angles, Koszulinski
forbids the viewer from ignoring the horrible possibilities awaiting
humanity should things take a turn for the worst. Influenced heavily by
Brave New World, Nosferatu, and 1984, Koszulinski embraces those that came before him.
This is refreshingly honest, especially when juxtaposed with those who
merely rip-off and do not expand on previous works, only to deny the
influence all together.
Koszulinski can be forgiven for being
the product of the University of Florida, home of the most
obnoxious football fans this side of UGA. He is a generally
well-mannered and insightful fellow. Thus, I wish nothing but the best
for this talented man and his disturbing visuals. Do not, however,
delve into his uncomfortable world if you are leaning toward offing
yourself, as you might be pushed off the edge.
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