Aaron Kaufman, Director of Ukraine War Doc ‘Superpower,’ Dies at 51

Aaron Kaufman, who directed the documentary Superpower concerning the warfare in Ukraine alongside Sean Penn and was a longtime producing companion of Robert Rodriguez, has died. He was 51.

Kaufman died Thursday in Las Vegas, Verdi Productions President Chad Verdi informed The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday. Studies indicated that Kaufman died of an obvious coronary heart assault.

“It’s a really unhappy time for everybody who liked Aaron,” Verdi wrote in an electronic mail to THR. “Aaron handed away Thursday night time. He and I spoke by cellphone about 20 minutes previous to 911 being referred to as. He was in nice spirits and was headed to dinner. Life is brief and household and buddies are every part. I miss him lots already.”

Kaufman could also be greatest identified for the Emmy-nominated documentary, however he additionally wrote, directed and produced a number of movies, together with Machete, Machete Kills, Urge and Sin Metropolis: A Dame to Kill For. He additionally govt produced The Best, Powder Blue, Unfold, 13 Chef and Flock of Dudes.

Earlier than Superpower, Kaufman additionally produced and directed Crusaders: Ex Jehovah’s Witnesses Communicate Out, which blew the whistle on the non secular group’s alleged defending of hundreds of admitted pedophiles worldwide.

Whereas Penn grew to become the face of their documentary, Kaufman was the director on the bottom when the warfare started in February 2022, after being in Kyiv within the weeks following Russia’s invasion. The mission was initially meant to shine a light-weight on President Volodymyr Zelensky and inform a “whimsical story of a comic book actor turned president.” However, when the invasion occurred, the movie’s topic modified radically.

“Ukraine isn’t just a nationwide curiosity for america, it’s america – or at the very least a fledgling model making an attempt its greatest to develop up,” Kaufman wrote in an op-ed in Newsweek about his expertise within the nation’s capital. “We merely can’t ignore this. If we do, we’ve misplaced all sense of who we had been, who we’re, and who we’ll change into.”

Born in Lengthy Island, New York, Kaufman started a small animation firm in his 20s. He offered the agency after a 12 months, after which started working for Chris Blackwell’s Palm Photos. Within the early 2000s, he based his manufacturing firm, Barbarian Movies.

Kaufman met Rodriguez by means of an agent, and so they labored collectively for six years at Troublemaker Studios and Fast Draw Productions. After their collaboration concluded, he began following his ardour and directing extra movies.

As a director, Kaufman had two upcoming initiatives, Stealing Don Ho and Iron Birds — and each had been accomplished earlier than his loss of life. He was additionally set to function a producer on The Jet, which remains to be in pre-production.

Kaufman is survived by his three kids and his companion Kea, Don Ho’s daughter.