Troika (1969 film)

Troika
1969 promotional poster
Directed by	Fredric Hobbs Gordon Mueller
Written by	Fredric Hobbs
Produced by	Fredric Hobbs
Starring	Fredric Hobbs Richard Faun Morgan Upton Nate Thurmond Gloria Rossi Parra O'Siochain
Cinematography	William Heick[1]
Edited by	Gordon Mueller
Music by	Fredric Hobbs Gordon Mueller
Production company	Inca Films
Distributed by	Emerson Film Enterprises[2]
Release date	November 21, 1969 (1969-11-21) (New York City, New York)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Troika is a 1969 American comedy anthology-art film written, directed, and produced by artist-turned-filmmaker Carl Fredric Hobbs. It stars Hobbs, Richard Faun, Morgan Upton, Nate Thurmond, Gloria Rossi, and members of the San Francisco Art Institute. It comprises three separate stories threaded together around a central fictional version of the director attempting to gain financing for a film titled "Troika".

Hobbs conceived the outline after working with the filmmakers Ron Bostwick and Robert Blaisdell on the short film Trojan Horse. Inspired, he began to develop a "modern morality play", with a title borrowed from the Russian word for a set of three, embodied by the three overlapping stories. The film was shot in early to mid-1969, in various locations in and around California. The score was composed in a collaborative effort between Hobbs and the editor-co-director Gordon Mueller.

Troika had a preview screening on October 12, 1969 before officially premiering that year on November 8. It received little attention from film critics, with reviews being mixed to positive. The film served as a foundation for Hobbs' continued work in the industry, developing three additional films until his retirement in the late 1970s. It has currently not been released on home video, as Hobbs has expressed dissatisfaction with the print and refused distribution rights. A copy was acquired by Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts, who restored it in collaboration with Hobbs' estate. The restored version was screened at the Weird Weekend Cult Film Festival on October 28, 2022.