Oliver Stone has always had one eye pointed south of the U.S. border.
It began with his phenomenal script for Brian De Palma’s Scarface, which transformed the famous Chicago gangster into a hardened Cuban refugee. After that, Stone directed the photojournalist saga Salvador, about the deadly civil war that gripped El Salvador in the 1980s. And later on he made a handful of documentaries about Latin American leaders, two of them featuring Fidel Castro and another one including such leftist figureheads as Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales.
Stone’s fascination with the dirty politics and violent class struggles of the southern hemisphere seems to perfectly align with the dramatic twists and nonstop conspiracies present in much of his other fictional work, from J.F.K. to Nixon to W to Snowden. In the director’s world, which he argues is ours as well, leaders are either corruptible or taken down by the corrupt,...
It began with his phenomenal script for Brian De Palma’s Scarface, which transformed the famous Chicago gangster into a hardened Cuban refugee. After that, Stone directed the photojournalist saga Salvador, about the deadly civil war that gripped El Salvador in the 1980s. And later on he made a handful of documentaries about Latin American leaders, two of them featuring Fidel Castro and another one including such leftist figureheads as Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales.
Stone’s fascination with the dirty politics and violent class struggles of the southern hemisphere seems to perfectly align with the dramatic twists and nonstop conspiracies present in much of his other fictional work, from J.F.K. to Nixon to W to Snowden. In the director’s world, which he argues is ours as well, leaders are either corruptible or taken down by the corrupt,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In this episode, we talk about writing as a permanent exercise in filmmaking.Santiago Mitre is an Argentine director initially recognized for his work as a screenwriter on Pablo Trapero's films, such as Leonera, Carancho and Elefante blanco, all of which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.With his debut feature film, El estudiante, he won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno. Since then, he has developed a successful filmography as a director, using the strategies of classic cinema to renew the narrative possibilities of genres such as political thriller. He recently won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for his feature film Argentina, 1985, which also won the Fipresci Award at the Venice Film Festival.On the other hand, Alejandro Landes is a Brazilian-born director who grew up between Ecuador and Colombia. After working for some years in the press and television in the United States,...
- 4/24/2024
- MUBI
Exclusive: Imperative Entertainment has acquired rights to the next film from Alejandro Landes, whose film Monos was a buzz title at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, winning a special jury prize in the World Cinema Dramatic competition and scoring a U.S. distribution deal with Neon.
Details of the new project are being kept under wraps, but sources say Imperative made the deal in a competitive situation, and Landes will write, direct and produce the film based on an original pitch. Imperative’s Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas and Ryan Friedkin will also produce.
The Colombia-born Landes made his directorial debut in 2007 with Cocalero, a documentary about Bolivian coca grower Evo Morales and his unlikely campaign to become the country’s first indigenous president. He followed that with his first narrative feature Porfirio, which played in the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight lineup in 2011.
Monos, about a young group...
Details of the new project are being kept under wraps, but sources say Imperative made the deal in a competitive situation, and Landes will write, direct and produce the film based on an original pitch. Imperative’s Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas and Ryan Friedkin will also produce.
The Colombia-born Landes made his directorial debut in 2007 with Cocalero, a documentary about Bolivian coca grower Evo Morales and his unlikely campaign to become the country’s first indigenous president. He followed that with his first narrative feature Porfirio, which played in the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight lineup in 2011.
Monos, about a young group...
- 5/16/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr and Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: UTA has signed Colombian-Ecuadorian director, writer and producer Alejandro Landes in all areas. The move comes as he readies his most recent feature film, Monos, for its world premiere at this month’s Sundance Film Festival, followed by an international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
Set on a remote mountaintop somewhere in Latin America, Monos revolves around a rebel group of teenage commandos who perform military training exercises while watching over a political prisoner and a conscripted milk cow for a shadowy force known only as “The Organization.” After an ambush drives the squadron into the jungle, fracturing their intricate bond, the mission begins to collapse. Julianne Nicholson and Moises Arias lead an ensemble cast. UTA Independent Film Group is handling the domestic sale of Monos alongside Le Pacte.
Landes made his directorial debut with Cocalero, a documentary about Bolivian coca grower Evo Morales and his unlikely campaign...
Set on a remote mountaintop somewhere in Latin America, Monos revolves around a rebel group of teenage commandos who perform military training exercises while watching over a political prisoner and a conscripted milk cow for a shadowy force known only as “The Organization.” After an ambush drives the squadron into the jungle, fracturing their intricate bond, the mission begins to collapse. Julianne Nicholson and Moises Arias lead an ensemble cast. UTA Independent Film Group is handling the domestic sale of Monos alongside Le Pacte.
Landes made his directorial debut with Cocalero, a documentary about Bolivian coca grower Evo Morales and his unlikely campaign...
- 1/18/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s probably because I know little about politics and care even less that I find most film’s dealing with the subject matter enjoyable. George Clooney‘s The Ides of March is one—the actor taking on the director’s chair, a co-screenwriting credit, and co-lead in front of the lens. Highly political himself with the media, it’s no surprise he’d gravitate towards a play based on an actual campaign (“Farragut North”) or a documentary doing much the same. The latter is Rachel Boynton‘s film centered on the 2002 Bolivian presidential election overseen by Us firm Greenberg Carville Shrum’s marketing team of which the narrative Our Brand Is Crisis took both name and plot. Clooney was set to star here, too, before Sandra Bullock took a shine to the script.
Peter Straughan‘s fictionalization—the credits say “suggested by”—takes the behind the scenes happenings of...
Peter Straughan‘s fictionalization—the credits say “suggested by”—takes the behind the scenes happenings of...
- 10/27/2015
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Based on the 2005 documentary of the same name, Our Brand Is Crisis portrays a fictionalized account of the highly contentious 2002 Bolivian presidential election in which American consulting firm Greenberg Carville Shrum was brought in to apply techniques used stateside to secure the election of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada over socialist candidate Evo Morales. Sandra Bullock stars as ‘Calamity’ Jane Bodine, a consultant who retired after a humiliating professional setback…...
- 9/8/2015
- Deadline
Sandra Bullock is set to star in David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis, sources have confirmed. The film, written by Peter Straughan, is based on the 2005 documentary of the same name. The doc followed American political campaign marketing tactics in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election, which saw Evo Morales lose to Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.
According to Variety, which first reported the news, Bullock has been in talks for the political dramedy for months now. Bullock will also serve as an executive producer on the film alongside George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures.
According to Variety, which first reported the news, Bullock has been in talks for the political dramedy for months now. Bullock will also serve as an executive producer on the film alongside George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures.
- 8/21/2014
- by Samantha Highfill
- EW - Inside Movies
On Chris Hayes' show tonight, Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald reacted to tonight's news that Edward Snowden may have been on a plane where his fellow passenger was Bolivian president Evo Morales. Greenwald told Hayes that it's "extraordinary" that France and Portugal actually prevented the Bolivian plane from entering its airspace because they thought Snowden was on board. He marveled at the "rogue nation behavior" from these two nations for denying Snowden's legal ability to seek asylum.
- 7/3/2013
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
Venezuelan president places deputy in charge but vows to return from Cuba after 'absolutely essential' fourth procedure
Hugo Chávez underwent cancer-related surgery in Havana on Tuesday, his fourth operation in 18 months, after announcing that an examination had found a recurrence of malignant cells. The Venezuelan president returned to Cuba on Monday for further surgery.
"It is absolutely necessary, absolutely essential that I undergo this new surgical procedure. And this must happen in the next days," Chávez said in a nationwide broadcast on Saturday night.
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, a close ally of Chávez who met with him in Cuba on Monday, said: "Commander Hugo Chávez is being operated on at this moment. It's a very delicate operation.
"He's passing through one of the hardest moments of his life. Our heart and our solidarity go out to a historic president."
Chávez first had surgery 18 months ago to remove an undisclosed type...
Hugo Chávez underwent cancer-related surgery in Havana on Tuesday, his fourth operation in 18 months, after announcing that an examination had found a recurrence of malignant cells. The Venezuelan president returned to Cuba on Monday for further surgery.
"It is absolutely necessary, absolutely essential that I undergo this new surgical procedure. And this must happen in the next days," Chávez said in a nationwide broadcast on Saturday night.
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, a close ally of Chávez who met with him in Cuba on Monday, said: "Commander Hugo Chávez is being operated on at this moment. It's a very delicate operation.
"He's passing through one of the hardest moments of his life. Our heart and our solidarity go out to a historic president."
Chávez first had surgery 18 months ago to remove an undisclosed type...
- 12/12/2012
- by Virginia Lopez
- The Guardian - Film News
La Paz, Bolivia -- It's not clear whether Sean Penn knew ahead of his visit to Bolivia of the missions he'd be asked to assume by President Evo Morales.
Cabinet chief Juan Ramon Quintana told reporters after Tuesday's meeting that Morales asked the Oscar-winning actor to defend the chewing of coca leaf before the United Nations, lobby Chile to restore Bolivia's long-lost access to the Pacific Ocean and help persuade the United States to extradite a former Bolivian president.
Penn is already a goodwill ambassador for Haiti, where he has won respect for his post-earthquake charity work.
Asked by reporters about the missions he'd been asked to assume, Penn answered curtly.
"I am ambassador of Haiti," he said.
Penn later showed up for the start of a soccer match with Morales.
Cabinet chief Juan Ramon Quintana told reporters after Tuesday's meeting that Morales asked the Oscar-winning actor to defend the chewing of coca leaf before the United Nations, lobby Chile to restore Bolivia's long-lost access to the Pacific Ocean and help persuade the United States to extradite a former Bolivian president.
Penn is already a goodwill ambassador for Haiti, where he has won respect for his post-earthquake charity work.
Asked by reporters about the missions he'd been asked to assume, Penn answered curtly.
"I am ambassador of Haiti," he said.
Penn later showed up for the start of a soccer match with Morales.
- 10/31/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
With his latest film Savages, the acclaimed Us director turns his vision to the murderous narcotics-fuelled conflict in Mexico
A man steps across the floor of what seems to be a basement or dungeon, on a film shot by a wobbly, handheld camera. Blood, sticky underfoot, runs beneath his boots – and the camera catches what seems to be a severed head. The scene is being played on a computer screen, watched by an intense young man, transfixed. A beautiful girl looks also, over his shoulder. "Is that Iraq?", she asks, squirming at the degenerate and apparently gratuitous cruelty. "Mexico," replies the man with a grunt, clearly terrified himself. Welcome to the latest film by Hollywood's – even America's – heretic-in-chief, Oliver Stone. Unsurprisingly, this brief exchange is charged with greater meaning than it appears at first sight, and the film's director has come to elaborate.
The physical presence of Oliver Stone is...
A man steps across the floor of what seems to be a basement or dungeon, on a film shot by a wobbly, handheld camera. Blood, sticky underfoot, runs beneath his boots – and the camera catches what seems to be a severed head. The scene is being played on a computer screen, watched by an intense young man, transfixed. A beautiful girl looks also, over his shoulder. "Is that Iraq?", she asks, squirming at the degenerate and apparently gratuitous cruelty. "Mexico," replies the man with a grunt, clearly terrified himself. Welcome to the latest film by Hollywood's – even America's – heretic-in-chief, Oliver Stone. Unsurprisingly, this brief exchange is charged with greater meaning than it appears at first sight, and the film's director has come to elaborate.
The physical presence of Oliver Stone is...
- 9/24/2012
- by Ed Vulliamy
- The Guardian - Film News
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
What better way to remind us of some recent international history than assemble a brilliantly-acted, emotionally engaging testament to it? The release of Icíar Bollaín’s Even the Rain is timely not because it dredges up memories of the 2000 Cochabamba water protests in Bolivia, but because the dogged issue of utility privatisation is just now arising once again in the country. Bolivian President Evo Morales’ controversial nationalisation of a subsidiary power company has re-opened the 2000 discourse, and the serendipitous arrival of Bollain’s film consequently provides plenty of food for thought.
Lusi Tosar, who impressed as a vicious prison inmate in Cell 211, plays fastidious film producer Costa, travelling to Bolivia with his young, idealistic director Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) to shoot a contentious picture about Christopher Columbus’ conquest. While recruiting local extras for their film, they become embroiled in the ongoing water conflict between the citizens and the state,...
What better way to remind us of some recent international history than assemble a brilliantly-acted, emotionally engaging testament to it? The release of Icíar Bollaín’s Even the Rain is timely not because it dredges up memories of the 2000 Cochabamba water protests in Bolivia, but because the dogged issue of utility privatisation is just now arising once again in the country. Bolivian President Evo Morales’ controversial nationalisation of a subsidiary power company has re-opened the 2000 discourse, and the serendipitous arrival of Bollain’s film consequently provides plenty of food for thought.
Lusi Tosar, who impressed as a vicious prison inmate in Cell 211, plays fastidious film producer Costa, travelling to Bolivia with his young, idealistic director Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) to shoot a contentious picture about Christopher Columbus’ conquest. While recruiting local extras for their film, they become embroiled in the ongoing water conflict between the citizens and the state,...
- 5/19/2012
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
Bolivia's streets were cleared of cars yesterday as the country marked its first national 'Day of the Pedestrian'. The country's government organised the vehicle-free day in order to raise environmental awareness and reduce pollution levels, BBC News reports. Cars and public transport were banned from the streets for a day, and street performers and artists also took over the capital city La Paz. The country's president Evo Morales even joined in with a photo opportunity as he went jogging. Morales joked that vice president Alvaro Garcia Linera could not keep up with him, telling reporters: "Children and young people should take over the streets to (more)...
- 9/5/2011
- by By Kate Goodacre
- Digital Spy
In the latest installment of the Butterfly Effect we look at how mining the key ingredient in electric cars could end up enriching potential enemies of America, and force another round of innovation to build an even newer kind of battery.
1. Revenge Of The Electric Car
One day in late 2005, after losing yet another bruising political battle to the bean counters inside General Motors, then-vice chairman “Maximum” Bob Lutz heard of a startup called Tesla Motors intending to bring an all-electric sports car to market. Enraged that a bunch of Silicon Valley gearheads could do what he couldn’t, Lutz, in his own words, “just lost it.” He rallied his fellow car guys within Gm to develop the prototype of what became the Chevrolet Volt--the “moon shot” justifying the company’s survival and the first in a new wave of electric vehicles just beginning to break on dealers’ showrooms. And...
1. Revenge Of The Electric Car
One day in late 2005, after losing yet another bruising political battle to the bean counters inside General Motors, then-vice chairman “Maximum” Bob Lutz heard of a startup called Tesla Motors intending to bring an all-electric sports car to market. Enraged that a bunch of Silicon Valley gearheads could do what he couldn’t, Lutz, in his own words, “just lost it.” He rallied his fellow car guys within Gm to develop the prototype of what became the Chevrolet Volt--the “moon shot” justifying the company’s survival and the first in a new wave of electric vehicles just beginning to break on dealers’ showrooms. And...
- 6/30/2011
- by Greg Lindsay
- Fast Company
Southern District (2009), Juan Carlos Valdivia’s follow-up to American Visa (2005), is a bold, innovative film that explores the intricacies of Bolivian society in the wake of the recent political shake-up. Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian, was elected president of Bolivia in 2005. He was the first of the country’s indigenous majority to hold such high office and the dramatic shift in politics was to transform most Bolivians’ lives.
Through his portrayal of one upper-class family, Valdivia illuminates a country on the brink of social change and the effect this was to have on ordinary citizens’ lives.
Carola (Ninon Del Castillo) and her children live in the affluent suburb of Zone Sur in the foothills of La Paz – the highest capital in the world. Their two servants are Aymara Indians, the butler and chef, Wilson (Pascual Loayza), and house maid Marcelina (Viviana Condori) who also tends their lush garden.
The cameras are constantly revolving,...
Through his portrayal of one upper-class family, Valdivia illuminates a country on the brink of social change and the effect this was to have on ordinary citizens’ lives.
Carola (Ninon Del Castillo) and her children live in the affluent suburb of Zone Sur in the foothills of La Paz – the highest capital in the world. Their two servants are Aymara Indians, the butler and chef, Wilson (Pascual Loayza), and house maid Marcelina (Viviana Condori) who also tends their lush garden.
The cameras are constantly revolving,...
- 3/22/2011
- by Daniel Green
- CineVue
We all agree that the planet is in a perilous position. But what is the best way to save it? We name the 20 activists, filmmakers, writers, politicians and celebrities who will be setting the global environmental agenda in the coming year
From David Attenborough to Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Town movement, the Observer Ethical Awards has honoured many movers and shakers in ecological and social justice. So it seems fitting to launch our sixth awards by profiling the 20 global figures who'll exert influence in 2011. For those on our list, the coming year might best be described as "take your partners" time, as activists and corporates scramble for power – and we're predicting some unlikely marriages ahead. Commentators have noted that big business is taking an unprecedented interest in the environment and are pushing for conservation capitalism. The really big decisions from the climate-change conference in Cancun have effectively been...
From David Attenborough to Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Town movement, the Observer Ethical Awards has honoured many movers and shakers in ecological and social justice. So it seems fitting to launch our sixth awards by profiling the 20 global figures who'll exert influence in 2011. For those on our list, the coming year might best be described as "take your partners" time, as activists and corporates scramble for power – and we're predicting some unlikely marriages ahead. Commentators have noted that big business is taking an unprecedented interest in the environment and are pushing for conservation capitalism. The really big decisions from the climate-change conference in Cancun have effectively been...
- 1/16/2011
- by Lucy Siegle
- The Guardian - Film News
Brooklyn's Finest; Black Death; Frozen; The Collector; South of the Border
Being a diehard Richard Gere fan can be tough (Hachi: A Dog's Tale anyone?), but occasionally he reminds us why we fell in love with him. In Brooklyn's Finest (2009, Momentum, 18), Gere returns to form as one of three troubled cops, each facing a personal and professional crisis. He plays Eddie Dugan, disillusioned and days away from retirement, but suddenly saddled with a rookie to whom he must show the ropes. "Don't you want to do something good with your last few days?" asks his superior, to which Dugan replies: "No, not really."
Inevitably, the assignment leads to tragedy and chaos, with the possibility of redemption. "Instead of thinking 'B cop movie'," says a straight-faced Gere, practising his blinking in the behind-the-scenes extras, "we were thinking Othello and Richard III – big themes being played out with guys in uniform." Elsewhere,...
Being a diehard Richard Gere fan can be tough (Hachi: A Dog's Tale anyone?), but occasionally he reminds us why we fell in love with him. In Brooklyn's Finest (2009, Momentum, 18), Gere returns to form as one of three troubled cops, each facing a personal and professional crisis. He plays Eddie Dugan, disillusioned and days away from retirement, but suddenly saddled with a rookie to whom he must show the ropes. "Don't you want to do something good with your last few days?" asks his superior, to which Dugan replies: "No, not really."
Inevitably, the assignment leads to tragedy and chaos, with the possibility of redemption. "Instead of thinking 'B cop movie'," says a straight-faced Gere, practising his blinking in the behind-the-scenes extras, "we were thinking Othello and Richard III – big themes being played out with guys in uniform." Elsewhere,...
- 10/16/2010
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Though a lesser artist than the more politically astute and genuinely socialist John Sayles, Oliver Stone is one of the few committed men of the left working in mainstream American cinema. A couple of years back he gave the kid gloves treatment to Fidel Castro in a couple of documentaries, and in this far-too-short movie he travels around Latin America interviewing seven democratically elected leftwing leaders: Venezuela's Hugo Chávez (who gets the lion's share of the running time), Bolivia's Evo Morales, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner (along with her husband, former president Néstor Kirchner), Brazil's Lula da Silva, Cuba's Raúl Castro, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, a liberation theologian and former bishop.
Stone looks like a benign version of Conrad Black, and his superficial movie is a healthy corrective to the coverage of Latin America in most of the North American media, especially the toxic bile spewed out by Fox News.
Stone looks like a benign version of Conrad Black, and his superficial movie is a healthy corrective to the coverage of Latin America in most of the North American media, especially the toxic bile spewed out by Fox News.
- 7/31/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Oliver Stone's entertaining study of South America's socialist "revolution" South of the Border shows he's more Alan Partridge than Walter Cronkite. By Steve Rose
Oliver Stone's study of South America's socialist "revolution" is unashamedly partisan and unintentionally hilarious – both of which make it highly watchable. Full credit to the director for correcting the view perpetrated by the Us media: that the continent's new leftist presidents, particularly Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, are "dictators" bent on America's destruction, rather than democratically elected leaders wresting their countries from the control of the Us and the International Monetary Fund. The case is forcefully presented, with the assistance of co-writer Tariq Ali. But having established the culpability of the media in this skewed perception, Stone goes on to shoot himself in the foot with a series of clumsy, sycophantic interviews. He thinks he's being Walter Cronkite but he's more Alan Partridge.
Oliver Stone's study of South America's socialist "revolution" is unashamedly partisan and unintentionally hilarious – both of which make it highly watchable. Full credit to the director for correcting the view perpetrated by the Us media: that the continent's new leftist presidents, particularly Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, are "dictators" bent on America's destruction, rather than democratically elected leaders wresting their countries from the control of the Us and the International Monetary Fund. The case is forcefully presented, with the assistance of co-writer Tariq Ali. But having established the culpability of the media in this skewed perception, Stone goes on to shoot himself in the foot with a series of clumsy, sycophantic interviews. He thinks he's being Walter Cronkite but he's more Alan Partridge.
- 7/29/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Director Oliver Stone and writer Tariq Ali talk about their new documentary, South of the Border, and tell us how they got involved with the project and the experience of getting it made. Plus, Stone talks about spending time with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and what taste he has in films.
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 Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nėstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba), Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light upon...
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 Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nėstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba), Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light upon...
- 7/27/2010
- by helen.cowley@lovefilm.com (Helen Cowley)
- LOVEFiLM
Director Oliver Stone and writer Tariq Ali talk about their new documentary, South of the Border, and tell us how they got involved with the project and the experience of getting it made. Plus, Stone talks about spending time with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and what taste he has in films.
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 Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nėstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba), Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light upon...
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 Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nėstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba), Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light upon...
- 7/27/2010
- by helen.cowley@lovefilm.com (Helen Cowley)
- LOVEFiLM
Eighteen months ago, Tariq Ali got a call from Oliver Stone: could he help with his new film? The result was a powerful documentary about Latin America – and a new friendship
Almost a year and a half ago I received a phone call from Paraguay. It was Oliver Stone. He had been reading Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, my collection of essays on the changing politics of Latin America, and asked if I was familiar with his work. I was, especially the political films in which he challenged the fraudulent accounts of the Vietnam war that had gained currency during the B-movie years of Reagan's presidency.
Stone had actually fought in that war as a Us marine, which made it difficult for others to pigeonhole him as a namby-pamby pacifist. Many of his detractors had avoided the draft and were now making up for it by proclaiming...
Almost a year and a half ago I received a phone call from Paraguay. It was Oliver Stone. He had been reading Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, my collection of essays on the changing politics of Latin America, and asked if I was familiar with his work. I was, especially the political films in which he challenged the fraudulent accounts of the Vietnam war that had gained currency during the B-movie years of Reagan's presidency.
Stone had actually fought in that war as a Us marine, which made it difficult for others to pigeonhole him as a namby-pamby pacifist. Many of his detractors had avoided the draft and were now making up for it by proclaiming...
- 7/26/2010
- by Tariq Ali
- The Guardian - Film News
Splice (15)
(Vincenzo Natali, 2009, Us) Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac. 104 mins
In case anyone thought mucking around with animal genes then raising the resultant mutant as your own child was a good idea, here's a strong warning. Scientists Brody and Polley initially enthuse over their secret breakthrough/lovechild, but several "do you really think we should be doing this?" moments later, they're living out every parent's worst nightmare: that your child grows wings and a venomous tail and turns on you. It's not up to Cronenberg standards, but it's smarter, less predictable and much funnier than it sounds.
Toy Story 3 (U)
(Lee Unkrich, 2010, Us) Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack. 109 mins
Plaything perils at the daycare centre become a lesson in mortality, comradeship, prison-breaking and waste management in this near-perfect sequel. As usual, it's packed with thrills and gags, but as with Pixar's Up, there are moments when grown-ups...
(Vincenzo Natali, 2009, Us) Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac. 104 mins
In case anyone thought mucking around with animal genes then raising the resultant mutant as your own child was a good idea, here's a strong warning. Scientists Brody and Polley initially enthuse over their secret breakthrough/lovechild, but several "do you really think we should be doing this?" moments later, they're living out every parent's worst nightmare: that your child grows wings and a venomous tail and turns on you. It's not up to Cronenberg standards, but it's smarter, less predictable and much funnier than it sounds.
Toy Story 3 (U)
(Lee Unkrich, 2010, Us) Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack. 109 mins
Plaything perils at the daycare centre become a lesson in mortality, comradeship, prison-breaking and waste management in this near-perfect sequel. As usual, it's packed with thrills and gags, but as with Pixar's Up, there are moments when grown-ups...
- 7/23/2010
- by The guide
- The Guardian - Film News
HollywoodNews.com: It’s the 3rd round of what could turn out to be a 12 round fight between filmmaker Oliver Stone, and Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuela’s most prominent opposition leader. He is the architect of a powerful new movement that promises to unite Venezuelans behind an alternative vision of democracy, free enterprise, and social change. The 38-year-old Harvard educated leader is the face of a new future for Venezuela: Democratic, inclusive, and solution-oriented.
The Associated Press calls Lopez “the man who is challenging President Hugo Chavez’s grip on power.” According to the “Washington Post,” he “represents a fresh generation” of Venezuelan leaders. “Caracas Chronicles” calls him “an early front-runner for the 2012 opposition Presidential nomination.”
Lopez was mayor of Chacao from 2000 to 2008. He won Transparency International’s Award for the most transparent municipality in Venezuela. In 2009 he founded Voluntad Popular, a social organization with the goal of promoting democracy and human rights.
The Associated Press calls Lopez “the man who is challenging President Hugo Chavez’s grip on power.” According to the “Washington Post,” he “represents a fresh generation” of Venezuelan leaders. “Caracas Chronicles” calls him “an early front-runner for the 2012 opposition Presidential nomination.”
Lopez was mayor of Chacao from 2000 to 2008. He won Transparency International’s Award for the most transparent municipality in Venezuela. In 2009 he founded Voluntad Popular, a social organization with the goal of promoting democracy and human rights.
- 7/23/2010
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
There's no let-up for Hollywod's most controversial director – the sequel to Wall Street, a documentary about Hugo Chávez and his most ambitious and personal project to date, the secret history of America
Oliver Stone is a man's man. Of this I have no doubt before meeting him. Not just because of his status as a sort of latter-day Ernest Hemingway, an action man with a reputation for women and drugs who won the Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam, and then an Oscar for reproducing his experiences on celluloid. But because the most compelling sequences from his latest film, a documentary called South of the Border, show him hanging out with Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, chewing the cud about politics and war, talking very much mano a mano.
It's an impression that's reinforced moments before I meet him in his Los Angeles office when the photographer appears and shows me...
Oliver Stone is a man's man. Of this I have no doubt before meeting him. Not just because of his status as a sort of latter-day Ernest Hemingway, an action man with a reputation for women and drugs who won the Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam, and then an Oscar for reproducing his experiences on celluloid. But because the most compelling sequences from his latest film, a documentary called South of the Border, show him hanging out with Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, chewing the cud about politics and war, talking very much mano a mano.
It's an impression that's reinforced moments before I meet him in his Los Angeles office when the photographer appears and shows me...
- 7/21/2010
- by Carole Cadwalladr
- The Guardian - Film News
Media coverage of the new Oliver Stone film displays just the kind of ignorance of Us/Latin American relations it decries
It's nice when you make a documentary about how the major media outlets misrepresent reality, and the media response to the film proves your point. In fact, the media's response to Oliver Stone's South of the Border, which I wrote with Tariq Ali, really completes a number of the film's arguments.
The first has to do with the sloppiness and lack of knowledge that characterise the debate over Us-Latin American relations, problems to which the major media regularly contribute. A number of reviews had trouble getting the presidents and countries straight. Perhaps the most poignant example was in the Washington Post, which ran a picture of Sacha Llorenti, Bolivia's minister of government, but identifying him as Evo Morales, the country's president. Llorenti is unknown in the Us, but...
It's nice when you make a documentary about how the major media outlets misrepresent reality, and the media response to the film proves your point. In fact, the media's response to Oliver Stone's South of the Border, which I wrote with Tariq Ali, really completes a number of the film's arguments.
The first has to do with the sloppiness and lack of knowledge that characterise the debate over Us-Latin American relations, problems to which the major media regularly contribute. A number of reviews had trouble getting the presidents and countries straight. Perhaps the most poignant example was in the Washington Post, which ran a picture of Sacha Llorenti, Bolivia's minister of government, but identifying him as Evo Morales, the country's president. Llorenti is unknown in the Us, but...
- 7/16/2010
- by Mark Weisbrot
- The Guardian - Film News
After watching Oliver Stone's new documentary South of the Border, in which he travels around Latin America to hang out with world leaders such as Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro, I kept thinking of it as a modern day equivalent of 1940s Disney films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. It's a bit of a stretch, but Stone serves much like Donald Duck does in those animation/live-action hybrids. He's a celebrated character serving as a cultural ambassador in a goodwill tour of nations south of the border.
The main differences here are that the JFK director and his new friends are not cartoons (at least not literally) and that, as the film focuses on, the U.S. and many Central and South American countries currently have the opposite of Fdr's Good Neighbor policy. Also, Stone doesn't get introduced to different Latin American dances or women (whitewashed or otherwise...
The main differences here are that the JFK director and his new friends are not cartoons (at least not literally) and that, as the film focuses on, the U.S. and many Central and South American countries currently have the opposite of Fdr's Good Neighbor policy. Also, Stone doesn't get introduced to different Latin American dances or women (whitewashed or otherwise...
- 6/25/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Knight and Day I've reviewed it and I mentioned it again yesterday so I think you know where I stand, but if you don't... go see it, it's fun.
This film is rated PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language. Click Here For The Gallery Of 10 Pictures My Review / Get More Info
Grown Ups This week has been a busy one and it got to a point Wednesday night where it was either go see Grown Ups or sit at home and relax for a couple of hours. Considering I don't have a review for this one online I think you know what my decision was.
This film is rated PG-13 for crude material including suggestive references, language and some male rear nudity. Click Here For The Gallery Of 36 Pictures Get More Info
Dogtooth I just finished watching this only a few hours ago and will...
This film is rated PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language. Click Here For The Gallery Of 10 Pictures My Review / Get More Info
Grown Ups This week has been a busy one and it got to a point Wednesday night where it was either go see Grown Ups or sit at home and relax for a couple of hours. Considering I don't have a review for this one online I think you know what my decision was.
This film is rated PG-13 for crude material including suggestive references, language and some male rear nudity. Click Here For The Gallery Of 36 Pictures Get More Info
Dogtooth I just finished watching this only a few hours ago and will...
- 6/25/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Before American audiences can get their greedy eyes on Oliver Stone's long-anticipated sequel "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" this fall, the three-time Oscar winner will release an even more politically minded film, if you don't mind Hugo Chávez standing in for Shia Labeouf. As genial as it is revealing, "South of the Border" sees Stone on a road trip in the titular direction, conducting humanizing interviews with presidents who -- as is the refuting point of Stone's doc -- have been unfairly maligned by the American government and media.
Stone gets up close and personal with the aforementioned Venezuelan leader, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Brazil's Lula da Silva, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner (and her husband, ex-President Nėstor Kirchner) and, most predictably from the director of "Comandante" and "Looking for Fidel," Cuban top dog Raúl Castro.
Stone mentioned to me that the film was partly shot...
Stone gets up close and personal with the aforementioned Venezuelan leader, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Brazil's Lula da Silva, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner (and her husband, ex-President Nėstor Kirchner) and, most predictably from the director of "Comandante" and "Looking for Fidel," Cuban top dog Raúl Castro.
Stone mentioned to me that the film was partly shot...
- 6/23/2010
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
Last night we arrived in Cochabamba, a city in the Andes in central Bolivia that has played a pivotal role in South America's battle for economic independence. As we document in South of the Border, it was in Cochabamba in 2000 that thousands of people took to the streets after the government privatized drinking water and the California-based company Bechtel raised water rates as much as 200% which meant that people throughout the region couldn't even afford potable water. Cochabamba is a coca-growing region, and thus also has special significance for President Evo Morales, who as the former head of Bolivia's coca-growers' union, has earned strong criticism from Washington for resisting the scorched-earth tactics of Us drug eradication policies. Coca has been used for centuries by Bolivia's indigenous population for medicinal and religious purposes, and through Evo's efforts it has...
- 6/8/2010
- by Fernando Sulichin
- Huffington Post
Oliver Stone has demonstrated his South American left-wing sympathies since his 3rd film, 1986’s Salvador – a drama about an American journalist (played by James Woods, who was also nominated for his performance by the Academy) in El Salvador covering the Salvadoran civil war.
So, him making a documentary titled South Of The Border, about South America’s political and social movements, shouldn’t be a surprise.
Shot across five countries, Stone’s reported intent with the film is to challenge North American mainstream media misperceptions of South America, via personal interviews with seven of its elected presidents, including Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba).
Stone gained “unprecedented access” to each president and region, in making the documentary, which is said to shed new light on the “exciting” transformations in South America.
Indie distribution company,...
So, him making a documentary titled South Of The Border, about South America’s political and social movements, shouldn’t be a surprise.
Shot across five countries, Stone’s reported intent with the film is to challenge North American mainstream media misperceptions of South America, via personal interviews with seven of its elected presidents, including Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba).
Stone gained “unprecedented access” to each president and region, in making the documentary, which is said to shed new light on the “exciting” transformations in South America.
Indie distribution company,...
- 6/8/2010
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
Buenos Aires -- American director Oliver Stone deflected criticism that his film about South American presidents provided a glossed-over picture of the region's political landscape and its controversial leaders.
In a packed auditorium at the University of Buenos Aires' Law School, Stone presented "South of the Border" with a public interview alongside producer Fernando Sulichin and scriptwriter Mark Weisbrot. Moderated by local journalist Jorge Lanata, the dialogue would later turn into a press conference that included an open microphone for the public.
The interview was the final event in his promotional tour through the region, which had started last week in Caracas with the premiere of his film, which is based on a series of interviews with Latin American presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, and Raul Castro of Cuba.
In a packed auditorium at the University of Buenos Aires' Law School, Stone presented "South of the Border" with a public interview alongside producer Fernando Sulichin and scriptwriter Mark Weisbrot. Moderated by local journalist Jorge Lanata, the dialogue would later turn into a press conference that included an open microphone for the public.
The interview was the final event in his promotional tour through the region, which had started last week in Caracas with the premiere of his film, which is based on a series of interviews with Latin American presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, and Raul Castro of Cuba.
- 6/4/2010
- by By Agustin Mango
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
London, May 30 – American filmmaker Oliver Stone has said that he has great admiration for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Stone was all praises for Chavez, while promoting his new documentary South of the border in Caracas, saying that the politician is forging a movement for ’social transformation’ in Latin American.
The film has informal interviews by Stone with Chavez and six allied leftist presidents including Bolivia’s Evo Morales to Cuba’s Raul Castro.
“I admire Hugo. I like him very much as a person. I can say one thing, he shouldn’t be on television all the time,”.
Stone was all praises for Chavez, while promoting his new documentary South of the border in Caracas, saying that the politician is forging a movement for ’social transformation’ in Latin American.
The film has informal interviews by Stone with Chavez and six allied leftist presidents including Bolivia’s Evo Morales to Cuba’s Raul Castro.
“I admire Hugo. I like him very much as a person. I can say one thing, he shouldn’t be on television all the time,”.
- 5/30/2010
- by News
- RealBollywood.com
American filmmaker Oliver Stone said Friday he deeply admires Hugo Chavez but the Venezuelan president might consider talking a bit less on television.Promoting his new documentary "South of the Border" in Caracas, Stone heaped praise on Chavez, saying he is leading a movement for "social transformation" in Latin American. The film features informal interviews by Stone with Chavez and six allied leftist presidents, from Bolivia's Evo Morales to Cuba's Raul Castro."I admire Hugo. I like him very much as a person. I can say one thing. ... He shouldn't be on television all the time," Stone said at a news conference. "As a director I say you don't want to be overpowering. And I think he is sometimes that way."Chavez makes near-daily speeches that run for hours, often reminiscing, lecturing about history, announcing news and breaking into song. His Sunday...
- 5/28/2010
- Filmicafe
Plus Bolivia's President was "inadequately misinterpreted", another prom controversy, and what two famous gay celebrities may be an item?
Above you can see another teaser for the June premiere of the new season of True Blood. This show continues to ruin me. Whenever I see the word "shapeshifter" I automatically picture Sam Trammel's meaty tush. We reported the rumor a few weeks ago, and now it's been confirmed that out Bill Condon will direct Twilight: Breaking Wind. *May not be actual title.
We mentioned BBC star John Partridge in our BritBits post today and now comes word that John will marry his long-time boyfriend Jon Tsouras.
Jon Tsouras and John Partridge
Oh dear, maybe these guys should just get a ruler out. Evan Lysacek has responded to the Stars on Ice/Johnny Weir controversy:
"Stars on Ice is really selective of who they hire and they only hire the best of the best to skate.
Above you can see another teaser for the June premiere of the new season of True Blood. This show continues to ruin me. Whenever I see the word "shapeshifter" I automatically picture Sam Trammel's meaty tush. We reported the rumor a few weeks ago, and now it's been confirmed that out Bill Condon will direct Twilight: Breaking Wind. *May not be actual title.
We mentioned BBC star John Partridge in our BritBits post today and now comes word that John will marry his long-time boyfriend Jon Tsouras.
Jon Tsouras and John Partridge
Oh dear, maybe these guys should just get a ruler out. Evan Lysacek has responded to the Stars on Ice/Johnny Weir controversy:
"Stars on Ice is really selective of who they hire and they only hire the best of the best to skate.
- 4/28/2010
- by snicks
- The Backlot
The president of Bolivia has suggested that hormone-injected chicken causes "deviances" in men. Evo Morales was criticised by opposition groups and gay rights organisations for his comments, Afp reports. Speaking at a 'people's conference' on climate change, Morales said of the supposedly unhealthy chickens: "When men eat those chickens, they experience deviances in being men." He added that eating a European diet can also make men go bald. Spain's National Federation of Lesbians, Gays, (more)...
- 4/23/2010
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Plus The Normal Heart returns, "GayGay" t-shirts are now acceptable, and chicken can make you gay? What the cluck?
Chris Evans, looking quite satisfied at the Hollywood premiere of The Losers
Glee's much-hyped Madonna episode was not only a critical success, but a ratings smash, and now Spurf is reporting that creator Ryan Murphy is in talks with Madge for a sequel. Bolivian President Evo Morales may be all kinds of crazy, or he may be on to something. He recently told the World People's Conference on Climate Change: "The chicken we eat is loaded with female hormones. So when men eat it, they tend to deviate from their manhood." A deviated manhood? Sounds painful. So if I give my straight crush a KFC Double Down, will he double down on me?
Somehow this slipped by us, but on April 10th, Actor Felipe Najera and producer Jaime Morales were married,...
Chris Evans, looking quite satisfied at the Hollywood premiere of The Losers
Glee's much-hyped Madonna episode was not only a critical success, but a ratings smash, and now Spurf is reporting that creator Ryan Murphy is in talks with Madge for a sequel. Bolivian President Evo Morales may be all kinds of crazy, or he may be on to something. He recently told the World People's Conference on Climate Change: "The chicken we eat is loaded with female hormones. So when men eat it, they tend to deviate from their manhood." A deviated manhood? Sounds painful. So if I give my straight crush a KFC Double Down, will he double down on me?
Somehow this slipped by us, but on April 10th, Actor Felipe Najera and producer Jaime Morales were married,...
- 4/21/2010
- by snicks
- The Backlot
Any self-respecting Coke addict knows that the sugary soft drink once contained trace amounts of cocaine. Now Bolivia is putting coca leaves in a suspiciously similar-sounding fizzy drink: Coca-Colla. That's not a typo, the drink is named after the Colla people of Bolivia's highlands. A batch of half-liter 12,000 bottles was recently sold for $1.50 a pop in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba, according to the UK Guardian.
In the past, Bolivia has tried to banish the coca leaf--a mild stimulant--from production. But now that coca grower Evo Morales is president, the government has changed its stance. Morales' administration backs the coca leaf for legitimate uses, including teas, liqueurs, toothpaste, and now Coca-Colla. At the same time, the government has booted drug enforcement officials out of the country.
If all goes well with Coca-Colla and the other coca products proliferating in Bolivia, the government might allow 20,000 hectares of land for coca growing--up from 12,000 hectares currently.
In the past, Bolivia has tried to banish the coca leaf--a mild stimulant--from production. But now that coca grower Evo Morales is president, the government has changed its stance. Morales' administration backs the coca leaf for legitimate uses, including teas, liqueurs, toothpaste, and now Coca-Colla. At the same time, the government has booted drug enforcement officials out of the country.
If all goes well with Coca-Colla and the other coca products proliferating in Bolivia, the government might allow 20,000 hectares of land for coca growing--up from 12,000 hectares currently.
- 4/20/2010
- by Ariel Schwartz
- Fast Company
Cinema Libre Studio acquired the North American rights to South of the Border, the documentary from Oliver Stone, which chronicles his travels to South America in the winter of 2009, and his conversations along the way with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Néstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba). The film premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, then screened at the New York Film Festival. Cinema Libre will premiere ...
- 3/29/2010
- by twhite
- International Documentary Association
The presidents of Venezuela and Bolivia were the very special guests of honour at the New York screening of Oliver Stone's new movie, South Of The Border, on Wednesday night.
Venezuela leader Hugo Chavez and President Evo Morales joined the moviemaker, Susan Sarandon, Courtney Love and Shia Labeouf at the Lincoln Center for the U.S. premiere of Stone's documentary.
Both Chavez and Morales appear in the film.
Stone says, "It's a highlight to be in my hometown to greet Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, both of whom have been, in my opinion, unfairly demonised by the U.S. media. Their graciousness is a signal to us to reach across borders."...
Venezuela leader Hugo Chavez and President Evo Morales joined the moviemaker, Susan Sarandon, Courtney Love and Shia Labeouf at the Lincoln Center for the U.S. premiere of Stone's documentary.
Both Chavez and Morales appear in the film.
Stone says, "It's a highlight to be in my hometown to greet Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, both of whom have been, in my opinion, unfairly demonised by the U.S. media. Their graciousness is a signal to us to reach across borders."...
- 9/24/2009
- WENN
Latin American Presidents Hugo Chavez from Venezuela and Evo Morales from Bolivia spoke of democracy, social justice and a cautious opening in their relationships with the new Obama administration last night, when they were at New York’s Lincoln Center with American filmmaker Oliver Stone to talk about his new documentary, “South of the Border.” “I don’t think we’ve ever had two Presidents with us here at the Walter Reade Theater,” said …...
- 9/24/2009
- Indiewire
Merciless dictator for some, political "Robin Hood" fighting against the power of the United States for others, the head of the Venezuelan government attended the world premiere of the movie about him by Oliver Stone. During press interviews after the screening of "South of the Border", the American director announced that what the world needs is tens of politicians like Hugo Chavez, people who keep their promises, citing the discipline and honesty of the Venezuelan leader. The maker of "Wall Street" snd "JFK" strongly criticized the American media, saying it goes out of its way to shed a negative light on the South American politician. In his film, Oliver Stone was able to interview other left wing Latin American heads of state, such as Argentina's Cristina Fernández, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Brazil's Lula, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Raúl Castro, brother of the seemingly immortal Fidel, while avoiding the...
- 9/8/2009
- by Constantin Xenakis (Cineman)
- Cineman.ch/en
I smell controversy. In his latest project, Oliver Stone travels from the Caribbean down to the Andes while examining the failed effort to push Us free-market policies upon Latin America. In South of the Border Stone specifically focuses on Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez and the opposition he faces worldwide. Chavez isn.t the only Latin American leader in this documentary. Stone chats with a number of others including Evo Morales of Bolivia, Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Raul Castro of Cuba, and Lula da Silva of Brazil all who expressed concerns over being considered equals with the Us. The big question surrounding this film is whether or not Stone can convince audiences Chavez really isn.t as bad as he.s made out to be. South of the Border will premiere this week at the Venice Film Festival but has yet to acquire domestic distribution. For now,...
- 9/5/2009
- cinemablend.com
Venice -- Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who is the subject of Oliver Stone's next film, said he is "considering" coming to Venice for the documentary's premiere, according to Italian media.
Stone's "South of the Border," which screens on the Venice Lido on Monday, features interviews with seven other Latin American leaders -- including Cuba's Raul Castro and Brazilian leader Lula da Silva, and Bolivian Evo Morales -- about Chavez, the former coup leader famous for views critical of the U.S.
Chavez has reportedly said he enjoyed the Stone documentary. On Thursday, he added that he is considering taking Stone up on his invitation to the world premiere of the film, and that he would make a decision with enough time to make the trip.
"I am considering the trip, but I have other obligations, political obligations," Chavez is reported to have said. "Although to be honest, the film...
Stone's "South of the Border," which screens on the Venice Lido on Monday, features interviews with seven other Latin American leaders -- including Cuba's Raul Castro and Brazilian leader Lula da Silva, and Bolivian Evo Morales -- about Chavez, the former coup leader famous for views critical of the U.S.
Chavez has reportedly said he enjoyed the Stone documentary. On Thursday, he added that he is considering taking Stone up on his invitation to the world premiere of the film, and that he would make a decision with enough time to make the trip.
"I am considering the trip, but I have other obligations, political obligations," Chavez is reported to have said. "Although to be honest, the film...
- 9/4/2009
- by By Eric J. Lyman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Quick Links Complete Film Listing: Premieres: Dramatic Comp: Docu Comp: World Dramatic Comp: Spectrum: Park City at Midnight: New Frontier: Short Film Programs January 18 to 28, 2007 Counting Down: updateCountdownClock('January 18, 2007'); ⢠"Acidente" (Brazil), directed by Cao Guimaraes and Pablo Lobato, an experimental, poetic expression of everyday life culled from images of 20 cities in Menas Gerais, Brazil. ⢠"Bajo Juarez, The City Is Devouring Its Daughters" (Mexico), directed by Alejandra Sanchez, an examination of the societal corruption backdropping the many cases of sexual abuse and murders of women in a Mexican industrial border town. ⢠"Cocalero" (Bolivia), directed by Alejandro Landes, which follows the campaign of Aymaran Indian Evo Morales to becomed the first indigenous president of Bolivia. World premiere. ⢠"Comrades In Dreams" (Germany), directed by Uli Gaulke, a look at four people in different parts of the world who bring cinema to locals. ⢠"Crossing the Line" (U.
- 1/18/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
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