On Thursday, Lily Hayes Kaufman premiered her documentary Occupy Cannes at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival. The film is a compilation of footage and interviews from Troma Entertainment’s last trip to the Cannes Film Festival, which took place in 2013. Company co-founder (and her father) Lloyd Kaufman was also in attendance, alongside multiple Troma alumni, including Charlotte Kaufman and actress Catherine Corcoran. Introducing the film was a short video from James Gunn, who cut his teeth at Troma Entertainment back in 1996, co-writing Tromeo and Juliet. Both the documentary and the post-screening Q&A focused on a heartfelt celebration of independent filmmaking.
Troma Entertainment: A Legacy of Independent Filmmaking
Troma Entertainment, for the uninitiated, is the oldest independent production studio in the world, most widely known for its 1984 film The Toxic Avenger. Established in 1974 by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, the studio regularly attended the prestigious Cannes Film Festival to promote their filmography. Over the years, the festival has become increasingly inaccessible for independent films to garner any kind of attention due to media consolidation. In 2013, while promoting their latest film, Return to Nuke ‘Em High, Kaufman and his colleagues decided to stage a daily Troma-themed protest parade down the Croisette. Their antics included events like a zombie walk, a lesbian wedding, and even a tribute to the late Roger Ebert.
Although the staged Troma events before a prestigious (i.e., uptight) Cannes audience are clearly comedic and silly, they were met with increasing hostility from the French police. At first, the cops take issue with their Toxic Avenger ‘Toxie’ masks, then their signs (too ‘political’). Then the police force them off the Croisette entirely, then off the nearby beach walkway, citing a fear of ‘terrorism’. The performers quickly point out that other performers promoting a Disney movie encounter none of these issues, despite those costumes having swords and prop guns.
Occupy Cannes: A Tribute to Troma’s Spirit and Doug Sakmann
The 2013 footage is interspersed with 2017 interviews from many of the performers, including Doug Sakmann (aka Sgt Kaboukiman), who passed away unexpectedly last year. “He was my Troma son” Lloyd Kaufman said in a candid moment during the post-screening Q&A. “We’re still grieving for him. We had these arm bands [in memorial of Doug],” he continued, “and I wore them at a big festival, but people thought it was a fascist thing, so…” It was 2020 when Lily Hayes began compiling all the footage to make this film, a process that would take years. Also named as executive producers are Julie and Roger Corman, who have their own impressive legacy supporting independent film (Roger also passed away in 2024). “This is his last screen credit,” joked Kaufman. “Lily Hayes killed Roger Corman!”
He thanked the crowd profusely for their support, while also acknowledging the team effort that made the film possible. He also praised Troma alumni like James Gunn, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker. “I don’t necessarily have talent, but I KNOW talent,” he quipped. “The most difficult thing to investigate is definitely my dad” added Charlotte Kaufman, a documentarian in her own right. She explained how her sister sifted through “hours and hours of footage that really intimidated me” in order to complete this film. “Thank you Lilly Hayes,” she added, “for bringing us all here and finishing this.”
The State of Independent Film: Challenges and Legacy
As dire as the situation was back in 2013, the industry has only gotten more selective in the last 12 years. Catherine Corcoran (now known for her role in Terrifier & Terrifier 2) spoke fondly of her “kinship” with other Troma Entertainment alumni, but didn’t mince words about the state of today’s film industry. “Streaming platforms have profitable stock market trade value, but they don’t necessarily result in revenue,” she said to many approving nods in the audience.
“At the end of the day, when you’re looking at the breadth of your life and your career, I think the question becomes, did you say something as a storyteller? Have you made a difference? Because when the lights come up, we all go home, but we’re renewed with an understanding that we didn’t have 5 minutes prior.” She continued, “THAT is the legacy of Troma, and no financial amount can ever take that away from them.”
