-
US director Oliver Stone at the 66th Venice Film Festival - Source: Reuters
Director Oliver Stone says the US media and government have
demonised Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other leftist South
American leaders, and argues in a new film that they were right to
stand up to Washington.
Chavez in particular has earned a reputation for his outspoken
criticism of US policy, and in Stone's documentary South of the
Border he is sympathetically portrayed as a hero of the people who
refuses to be bullied.
Originally an attempt to redress what Stone saw as unfair treatment
of Chavez by broadcasters and newspapers, South of the Border
turned into a bigger project and included interviews not only with
Chavez but with six other presidents in the region.
"I think the movie, if you've seen it, shows very clearly the level
of stupidity in the kind of broad statements that are made about Mr
Chavez," Stone told reporters in Venice, where South of the Border
has its world premiere.
"But I didn't want to make a movie only about the American media's
attacks. I felt that that was too small for what this man is about.
This man is a big phenomenon.
"So we travelled in a road trip kind of movie to visit these other
presidents and we saw the positive side of what is going on, the
sweeping change in this region. It's a very important historical
phenomenon that is ... ignored in America."
South of the Border combines clips of US broadcasters and
commentators describing Chavez, one of them comparing him to
Hitler, with interviews and news footage of economic upheaval
across South America during the last decade.
IMF seen as culprit
Stone points the finger of blame at the International Monetary
Fund, which he says imposed neo-liberal, US-led conditions in
return for loans, and hails today's leaders for wresting back
control of their resources.
Chavez, and other leaders including Bolivia's Evo Morales and
Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, criticize the fund, and
voice support for greater regional cooperation.
"Each one of these countries ... is in for a struggle," Stone
said.
"The idea that Chavez has expressed ... is 'Let's unify, let's
stay together here because we are up against a giant', not only the
US government giant but against corporations that are multinational
and very strong."
Asked about anti-Chavez demonstrations over the weekend in Caracas
involving thousands of people, Stone replied:
"Chavez continues to remain very popular in Venezuela and he keeps
getting elected. Without doubt social improvement has been extreme
in Venezuela. There are many problems still but it's a wonderful
change that's occurred since 2000."
And questioned whether Chavez would attend the gala premiere in
Venice, he replied: "I cannot say yes, and I cannot say no."
South of the Border looks like a movie made in a hurry, with
soundmen and cameramen often in shot.
It includes amusing scenes as when Chavez is riding around his
childhood yard on a bicycle when it buckles underneath him, and
Kirchner complaining as she waits for someone to bring her a
photograph: "Men can be slow. My God!"
Stone said he had been in talks with Iran to make a documentary
about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but that scheduling on both
sides had prevented it.
"I was very interested because I thought we were going to go to war
in Iran," he said.
"If we had been more successful in Iraq, I have no doubts that we would have been more involved in the Iranian situation now."
