South of the Border (2009)

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

Mark Weisbrot (written by) and
Tariq Ali (written by)

Release Date:

3 June 2010 (Argentina)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

South America | Media | Chavez | Cuba | Revolution

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

Directed by
Oliver Stone

Writing credits
Mark Weisbrot		(written by)
Tariq Ali		written by

Produced by
Suzie Gilbert	....	co-producer
Chris Hanley	....	executive producer
Victor Ibañez	....	associate producer
José Ibáñez	....	producer
Serge Lobo	....	executive producer
Jean-Pierre Marois	....	associate producer
Steve Pines	....	line producer
Juan Riva	....	executive producer
Gustavo Santaolalla	....	associate producer
Fernando Sulichin	....	producer
Tara Tremaine	....	associate producer
Robert S. Wilson	....	producer

Original Music by
Adam Peters

Cinematography by
Lucas Fuica
Carlos Marcovich
Albert Maysles

Film Editing by
Elisa Bonora
Alexis Chavez

Visual Effects by
Nathan Warner	....	previs designer: Proof, Inc.

Camera and Electrical Department
Elisa Bonora	....	additional camera operator
Steven Wacks	....	additional cinematography

Editorial Department
Anthony Smedile	....	additional editor

Music Department
Budd Carr	....	executive music producer
Linda Osher	....	music clearance
Frederic Sans	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Evan Bates	....	assistant: Mr. Stone
Lisa Callif	....	legal counsel
Edward Ellis	....	production team
Aden Glassman	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Good Apple Productions
• Ixtlan
• Muse Productions
• New Element Productions
• Pentagrama Films

Distributors

• Cinema Libre Studio (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema Libre Studio (2010) (Canada) (all media)
• Cinema Libre Studio (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Dogwoof Pictures (2010) (UK) (all media)
• Europa Filmes (2010) (Brazil) (all media)
• Europa Filmes (2011) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2011) (Italy) (all media)

Special Effects

• Proof

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:12

Filming Locations:

Asunción, Paraguay

Company:

Good Apple Productions

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.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Crime Alerts

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.