Barney Rosset

A look at the life and work of American publisher Barney Rosset, who struggled to bring controversial works like "Tropic of Cancer" and "Naked Lunch" to publication.

Tomi Ungerer - L'esprit Frappeur dresse le portrait d’un personnage fascinant, figure hors du commun qui n’a eu de cesse de bousculer les conventions sociales à travers son œuvre. Le film retrace le parcours chaotique, baroque et tumultueux de l’un des plus grands illustrateurs contemporains. Illustrateur de presse, de livres pour enfants, de publicités commerciales et de posters militants, en tout domaine l’inventivité foisonnante de Tomi Ungerer s’est imposée. De l’Alsace nazifiée à l’Europe réconciliée, du Paris existentialiste au New York beatnik et de la Nouvelle-Ecosse aride et désolée au retour à Strasbourg, berceau de son enfance, le parcours de ce créateur de génie, tour à tour tendre et provocant, n’a cessé de dessiner des espaces de liberté, embrassant les questionnements et l’absurdité du XXème siècle pour mieux les dénoncer.

Two derelicts, Vladimir and Estragon, occupy themselves as they wait for 'Godot' to make an appearance on Pozzo's estate.

35 years later, Barney Rosset and Edward de Grazia talk about the legal ramifications of the film, I am Curious: Yellow (1967), and how it got into theaters and the courts.

A documentary about the film, I am Curious-Yellow (1967), and how it made it into the USA and changed film in USA forever by breaking the USA Obscenity Codes.

What makes a rebel? This 78 minute documentary probes the psyche of bad-boy publisher and free speech warrior Barney Rosset, whose mid-century legal and cultural battles smashed sexual and political taboos in the United States — unleashing the counter-culture of the 1960s and introducing millions of young intellectuals to the most radical currents in literature, film, theater and politics. In his late eighties, coming to terms with his life, Barney Rosset began to obsessively sculpt an autobiographical 15′ x 22′ surreal wall mural, embedded with jewel-like vignettes crafted out of found objects, each a clue to the conflicts and obsessions that drove Barney’s lifetime rebellion against authority. A cast of artists, a neurologist, and a shaman connect the clues and piece together Barney’s life.

35 years later, Barney Rosset and Edward de Grazia talk about the legal ramifications of the film, I am Curious: Yellow (1967), and how it got into theaters and the courts.

A documentary about the film, I am Curious-Yellow (1967), and how it made it into the USA and changed film in USA forever by breaking the USA Obscenity Codes.