07/08/09
Oliver Stone Documentary on President Chavez to Premier at Venice Film Festival

"South of the Border", the most recent documentary by controversial US filmmaker Oliver Stone, explores the surge of the Latin American left through the personage of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The documentary will be shown out of competition at the 66th Venice International Film Festival September 2 to 12.
 
“South of the Border” centers on the figure of Venezuelan president, who embodies the spirit of change currently taking place in South America. To Stone, Chavez is the most representative of what is happening in Latin America. Although Chavez is the protagonist of the film, Stone also interviewed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma, the Kirchners of Argentina, and the current President of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo.
 
Stone also filmed in the family home of the Venezuelan president, located in Sabaneta, Barinas and also attended several working meeting with the President, in which he analyzed international and oil issues, and referenced his ideas on socialism and the thoughts of Liberator Simon Bolivar.
 
In sharing these experiences and having direct contact with the president, Stone concluded that Chavez is a man of intoxicating energy, big ideas and a leader of changes that are extending throughout the world, aspects of which are detailed in the documentary.
 
New York director Stone is 62 years old and has won three Oscars for his films “Midnight Express” (best adapted screenplay 1978), “Platoon” (best director 1986) and “Born on the Fourth of July” (best director 1989).
 
The controversy unleashed by his different productions is linked to the political connotations of his filmography, mainly inspired by real events.
 
Bolivarian News Agency, Press Unit of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United States