Venezuela Participates in NY Indigenous Film Fest

David Hernández-Palmar, a young Venezuelan man from the Wayuu Indigenous community, will be in New York City this Saturday to help present a documentary at the 30th Annual Native American Film and Video Festival.

“Owners of the Water: Conflict and Collaboration over Rivers” was created by Hernández-Palmar together with Caimi Waiassé (a Brazilian Xavante man) and U.S. Anthropologist Laura R. Graham. It chronicles an international campaign to protect Rio das Mortes River Basin in Brazil, a vital resource for the Xavante community that was threatened by soya production and related deforestation. The Xavante blocked a national highway to demand the protection of the basin.

To help tell the story of the Xavante’s struggle, Venezuela’s David Hernández-Palmar lent his talents as an up-and-coming documentarian. For more information about this and other films at the Native American Film and Video Festival, click here.

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Coming Soon: Oliver Stone’s Documentary on Hugo Chavez

Oliver Stone and crew have been hard at work on a documentary about the Venezuelan Revolution, starring President Chavez and “huge cast of characters.”  According to Stone, Chavez is a “world changer” full of “intoxicating” energy. The film will explore the progress he has inspired in Venezuela and the region.

Stone interviewed people throughout the United States and Latin America and says he has enough footage “for two documentaries.” The film is meant to “capture the spirit” of the social movements in Venezuela and will be released in a few months.

Check back here for more info when the film is released!

In the meantime, check out these great articles from Variety and the AP.

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Caracas Comes Alive in Cyrano Fernandez Movie

Another Venezuelan film participating in the Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana escaped our notice yesterday: Cyrano Fernandez by director Alberto Arvelo.

The movie is a modern-day version of the French drama Cyrano de Bergerac that takes place in the Caracas barrios. This love story features music by the popular Venezuelan rap group Tres Dueños. Check out their song “La Mala Vida,” and watch the trailer for Cyrano Fernandez with English subtitles below.

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Venezuela Enters Oscars Race with “The Color of Fame”

Breaking news, movie fans: Venezuela has just selected its submission for the category of Best Foreign Language Film in the upcoming Oscars. Oh the agony of waiting until February 22nd, 2009 at 5pm to find out who wins!

The film is called El tinte de la fama (“The Color of Fame”). It tells the bittersweet and often humorous tale of a young woman who tries to escape poverty by entering a Marilyn Monroe look-alike contest. It is directed by Alejandro Bellame and stars Elaiza Gil. Click on these links to read more in English or Spanish. Watch the extended trailer below.

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Venezuela a Tempting Locale for Director Tim Robbins

Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Naomi Campbell… Hollywood just cannot resist the charms of Venezuela!

The Academy Award- winning U.S. actor and director Tim Robbins visited yesterday, scouting a location for a film.

Robbins was particularly interested in seeing Coro, the desert-like peninsula that juts out into the ocean from the northern state of Falcón.

He also made the requisite visit to Cinema City (la Vllla del Cine) to see Venezuela’s government-funded, state-of-the-art movie facilities. In addition to watching sneak previews of some of the films that are currently in production at Cinema City, Robbins met Venezuelan directors Román Chalbaud, Carlos Caridad-Montero, Alfredo Hueck, and Laura Vásquez.

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