South of the Border (2009)

A road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

Mark Weisbrot, Tariq Ali

Stars:

Tariq Ali, Raúl Castro, Hugo Chávez

Cast

Credited cast:
Tariq Ali	...	Himself
Raúl Castro	...	Himself
Hugo Chávez	...	Himself
Rafael Correa	...	Himself
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	...	Herself (as Cristina Kirchner)
Néstor Kirchner	...	Himself
Fernando Lugo	...	Himself
Lula	...	Himself
Evo Morales	...	Himself

Storyline

There's a revolution underway in South America, but most of the world doesn't know it. Oliver Stone sets out on a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents. In casual conversations with Presidents Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nestor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raul Castro (Cuba), Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light upon the exciting transformations in the region.

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Plot Keywords:

south america | media | chavez | cuba | revolution | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Portuguese

Release Date:

3 June 2010 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Untitled Oliver Stone/Hugo Chavez Documentary

Filming Locations:

Asunción, Paraguay

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$21,545 (USA) (25 June 2010)

Gross:

$166,611 (USA) (23 July 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Good Apple Productions, Ixtlan, Muse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Gretchen Carlson: Alright, something that I never knew was that - I knew there was some dictators around the world, but did you know that some of the dictators now apparently, allegedly, are drug addicts as well? That might explain a few things. Hugo Chavez, now admitting in his speech, that went widely undocumented by the way, that he chews cocoa every morning. And he also eats something called cocoa paste, which by the way is addictive. And he gets it from the dictator in Bolivia.

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 21 July 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Crime Alerts"
Written by "Frederic SANS"

User Reviews

Decent Documentary

South of the Border (2009)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Director Oliver Stone certainly isn't shy when it comes to controversial subjects but at the same time I'm really not sure he's the one you'd want to deliver a documentary. In this film he travels to five countries in order to tell the American people that the media is evil, George Bush is nothing more than Hitler and that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is one of the greatest men on the planet. Look, I don't know how much truth is in this film and let's pretend that every second in the 78-minute running time is nothing but the truth. That's fine but I have a hard time believing anything here because Stone clearly didn't set out to make a documentary but instead he wanted to give his political point of view without any other opinions coming in. I was a little surprised by the short running time but I guess that should be expected because we never hear from the "other side" and instead we just hear from the main guys as they tell us why they're so great and why the American media wants to paint them as monsters. Again, I'm perfectly fine in someone telling me that these guys are angels but at the same time I want to hear from those who are trying to paint a different picture. Stone clearly wants this film to be a love story to Chavez, Luis Inacio Lula de Silva, Evo Morales, Fernando Lugo and Rafael Correa. He interviews all of these people and they tell us all the great things they've done and inform us (again) that the American media has them all wrong. The film spends plenty of time telling us why Bush is evil and we hear why the American people are simply being fed lies and are too stupid to figure anything out on their own. SOUTH OF THE BORDER is a decent movie and I must admit I had a good time watching Stone interview these people. Again, perhaps everything said here is true but I still want to hear from the other side. I also have a hard time with any documentary that tries to show the subjects to be "down to Earth" by having them do childish things. This includes a scene where Stone directs Chavez to ride a bike like a kid and another scene where he plays soccer.