OCCUPY CANNES!

OCCUPY CANNES!

Troma’s creator – Lloyd Kaufman storms the Cannes Film Festival

He says he makes a living pretending to be Mel Brooks. We all know that’s not true. Lloyd Kaufman, the legendary independent filmmaker, father of Troma, and creator of films teetering on the edge of good taste, has had his own strong brand for decades, with titles that are at once offensive and fascinating.

In 2013, a long-time friend of our festival decided to once again storm Cannes. Along with his wife Pat and his most loyal apostles from around the world, he flew to the mecca of festival cinema to guerrilla-promote his films. He did so on the occasion of the premiere of “Return to Nuke ’Em High Volume 1”. He had a handful of dollars, no support from Hollywood moguls, but plenty of confidence and charm.

What impression did this gang of independent filmmakers and Troma fans – of films like “The Toxic Avenger,” “Tromeo and Juliet,” “Surf Nazis Must Die,” or “A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell” – make on the seasoned Cannes audience? How was Kaufman received as he led a band of freedom-loving zealots foaming green at the mouth onto the barricades of creative liberty? You have to see it. And the expression on Michael Cera’s face, ambushed on the promenade, speaks for itself.

“Occupy Cannes!” is a documentary about the love of cinema. Troma, the studio Kaufman founded in the 1970s with Michael Herz, is today one of the greatest phenomena in the world of B movies. Following in the footsteps of Roger Corman (who, together with his wife Julie – the late king of cinematic pulp – produced this film), Kaufman has for decades been creating, producing, and distributing films for connoisseurs of bad taste who love gore, grotesque, and boundary-pushing. He does it on a shoestring budget and with immense joy. Does it make you rich? Not really.

The documentary was directed by Kaufman’s daughter, Lily Hayes Kaufman. It’s a story of artistic drive that cannot be stopped by French police, a tiny budget, or the disdain in the eyes of onlookers.

We wish everyone the kind of faith in their work that we see in Lloyd Kaufman’s eyes. Those who were lucky enough to meet him during his visit to Splat!FilmFest in 2018 – when he came to Warsaw with his wife Pat, who worked for nineteen years as Executive Director of the New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development and as Deputy Commissioner at Empire State Development – will surely recall it with fondness.

The years pass, but Lloyd Kaufman doesn’t change. And that’s precisely why it’s so easy to love him and his work. And the fact that watching “Occupy Cannes!” makes you wonder whether Kaufman always does what’s best for Troma is an added value. It’s a film made with love – but love that has no illusions.

After the screening we invite you to Q&A with:

• Lily Hayes Kaufman
• Lloyd Kaufman
• Pat Swinney Kaufman