World Courant
Aaron Kaufman, the Emmy-nominated director behind Superpower, Sean Penn’s Paramount+ documentary concerning the Ukraine-Russia battle, has died on the age of 51.
Deadline confirmed the information with Chad Verdi of Verdi Productions, who financed and govt produced a few of Kaufman’s earlier and upcoming tasks, together with Superpower. He died in Las Vegas of an obvious coronary heart assault on Thursday.
Kaufman is probably finest identified for co-helming Superpower alongside Penn, and the hassle translated right into a Information & Documentary Emmy nod within the Excellent Politics and Authorities Documentary class. What started as an intention to trace Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s rise from in style comedian-actor to a distinguished political chief transitioned to a battle doc within the aftermath of Russia’s marketing campaign launched in 2022, when Kaufman was on the bottom as a filmmaker.
Chatting with the one-year anniversary of the battle’s starting on the 2023 Berlin Movie Pageant, Kaufman mentioned, “It appears apparent that the stakes should not between Russia and Ukraine. The very nature of contemporary democracy is being challenged.”
Additionally a part of Kaufman’s filmography is the Vice Studios documentary Crusaders, about sexual abuse inside the Jehovah’s Witness neighborhood. (Kaufman was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness.) Different credit embrace 2016’s Pierce Brosnan thriller Urge, which he wrote, directed and produced. He was additionally a frequent collaborator of Robert Rodriguez, producing Machete Kills and Sin Metropolis: A Dame to Kill For. In 2009, he additionally govt produced the romantic black comedy movie Unfold, starring Ashton Kutcher.
On the time of his dying, Kaufman had a number of forthcoming tasks, together with a documentary on the lifetime of Hawaiian singer Don Ho and partnership with Verdi to again The Jet, a doc concerning the lifetime of former kickboxer Benny “The Jet” Urquidez additionally co- produced by Keanu Reeves and Fisher Stevens.
Kaufman is survived by his three youngsters in addition to his mom, brother and sister.
Selection first reported the information.
Emmy-Nominated ‘Superpower’ Director Was 51
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