Obscene tells the extraordinary story of Barney Rosset; the publisher who fought American censorship in battles involving enduring lawsuits, death-threats, grenade attacks and enraged feminists.

Barney Rosset acquired the small publishing firm Grove Press in 1951 and went on to become the first publisher to introduce acclaimed authors Samuel Beckett, Kenzaburo Oe, Tom Stoppard, Che Guevara and Malcolm X. The controversial publisher also battled the US government to overrule the obscenity ban on groundbreaking novels such as Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Tropic of Cancer and Naked Lunch – books we now happily read as vital works of fiction.

Rosset’s unyielding and reckless energy drove him to publish and distribute more controversial works such as Allen Ginsberg's Howl, the Swedish film I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW), and the provocative Evergreen Review; the radical literary magazine.

Obscene was selected at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and features music by Bob Dylan, The Doors, Warren Zevon, and Patti Smith, and never-before-seen footage.