This review is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival
No one can accuse trash cinema impresario Lloyd Kaufman of being subtle. When he and Michael Herz founded Troma Entertainment in 1974, it was a bold endeavor, creating films that existed outside the boundaries of mainstream cinema. There was blood, and gore, and nudity, and language, and all the taboo trappings you’d expect from a company that would go on to revolutionize the distribution of hardcore trash cinema. Occupy Cannes is a chronicle of the company’s attempt to make a splash at the Cannes Film Festival after years away. Lloyd and his merry band of misfits were known for their outlandish and offensive antics at the festival for years before rising costs of such an endeavor scaled down their participation. To promote their new film, Return to Nuke’em High Vol. 1, they made the decision to return.
Directed by Kaufman’s daughter, Lily-Hayes, the star of the picture is, of course, Lloyd Kaufman, who I am sure wouldn’t have it any other way. Almost 80 now, Kaufman was in his 70s when this film was shot and still had the same energy and verve he always did. He revels in being kicked off the red carpet for not wearing the right color of tuxedo. Why? Because he knows he’s going to hit up the after party and have filmmakers like Joel Coen and musicians like Justin Timberlake fawn all over him. He might have the crappiest booth in all of Cannes, but he knows the chief lobbyist and chair of the MPAA, Chris Dodd, is going to drop by. Kaufman is always complaining about money and how tough it is for independent film, but he clearly has access to all the right people, and isn’t quite the ‘victim’ he portrays himself to be.
Watching Occupy Cannes, I had a lot of conflicting feelings about Kaufman, Troma, and the way their model works. Kaufman has always celebrated their offensiveness and grotesquery, and then goes on and on about how his films aren’t selling the way they once did. Even his own daughter, at one point, wonders if he might be self-sabotaging the entire endeavor, and I certainly felt that way, at times. The way his team is crammed into this tiny hotel room, working in the heat and the rain and just terrible conditions – how is it worth it for them? What are they getting out of it? It’s not like a Troma film is going to make their careers. Sure, James Gunn, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone are famous exceptions, but those are few and far between. At times, I wondered if Kaufman was exploiting the ambition and naivety of young talent to serve his purposes? They all clearly adore him, and would do anything the man asked.
I don’t mean to be hard on Lloyd. I grew up watching every Troma title that poured into my local video store, and they got all of them. Troma Entertainment is one of the few independent labels that has managed to persist, however meagerly, through all the changes in the industry over the years. That’s probably because they never abandoned their model. But, by not changing with the times, one wonders if they sort of put a cap on how far they would go? As is pointed out, Kaufman loves being the underdog. It’s more fun to be the underdog. But you can only be the underdog for so long. After a while, you just become complacent. And that’s where it seems Troma is now – plodding along, doing the best they can, and not even attempting anything to buck a system they are constantly bemoaning. Troma are not martyrs. They are, as they have always been, a niche label appealing to a niche audience in a niche market.
Occupy Cannes will likely delight Troma fans. There were moments that delighted me. Kaufman makes a charismatic guide, even when he’s acting irrationally and in his own self-interest. Kaufman is choosing to work in a cluttered office. He is choosing to reuse a suitcase that was clearly broken years before. If he doesn’t live like an independent artist, he can’t use that as his rallying cry for the company. On one hand, it’s genius. On the other hand, it’s frustrating to see so many talented folks go through the Troma grinder with so little to show for it other than aggrandizing Kaufman’s brand and career. What will happen to Troma when Kaufman goes? Will it collapse? Or will it become more successful than he ever imagined. One wonders if he’s the one keeping it going, or the one holding it back. For me, the jury is very much out.
Rating: **1/2/***** (WORLD PREMIERE)
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