Venezuela

Viva Venezuela: Fighting for Socialism(en)

We live in a world dominated by crisis, imperialist war and exploitation. We're told there is no alternative to cuts, privatisation, hunger and homelessness. The Bolivarian Revolution illustrates what can be achieved when governments and people working together, put human need before capitalist profits. Despite Chavez's death in 2013, the process is being built every day by President Maduro and millions of Venezuelans working to create a society built on collective socialist organisation and production. Venezuela provides an inspiring example of how the fight against austerity can develop into a fight for socialism. This film takes you on that journey through the barrios, universities and workplaces to meet the political activists, students and workers who are changing their future. Alongside the achievements of socialist Cuba, Venezuela shows that not only is another world possible, but this world is being built today in Latin America.

Entendidos(es)

A documentary on the history of the gay magazine Entendidos, a pioneering publication on LGBTQ+ rights in Venezuela.

10 Years of Indeleble(es)

This documentary tells the story behind "Indeleble", the album with which Los Mesoneros received four Latin Grammy nominations and toured many countries. "10 Años de Indeleble" features interviews, stories, and songs that had never seen the light of day, along with a live show in which Los Mesoneros perform, in order, the songs that were part of that first record.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised(en)

Hugo Chavez was a colourful, unpredictable folk hero who was beloved by his nation’s working class. He was elected president of Venezuela in 1998, and proved to be a tough, quixotic opponent to the power structure that wanted to depose him. When he was forcibly removed from office on 11 April 2002, two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace.

A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela(en)

In 2016, Venezuela introduced the CLAP program to provide essential food items during the economic crisis. However, Armando.info journalists discovered that the powdered milk included was deficient in calcium and high in sodium. Investigations revealed Alex Saab, a government contractor, was behind the overpriced imports. Journalist Roberto Deniz exposed Saab’s corruption and fled to Colombia due to threats. From there, he uncovered Saab's money laundering for Maduro and bribes to opposition members. Saab was arrested in Cape Verde and extradited to the US. Saab must choose to collaborate with US authorities or face trial, while Deniz, in exile, continues his reporting despite personal risks.

Resolve in Venezuela(es)

The word "resolver" in the context of seeking solutions is a word-expression widely used in Venezuela. This documentary follows the lives of several characters during one day. We see how they feel, work, talk or do such different things that show the reality (or realities) of a country so diverse and, at the same time, so unknown to the world.

Chiche(es)

Chiche is an ingenious and creative man who finds a strange rock, which he believes to be a fragment of a meteorite. Despite the little hope his family has in his projects, Chiche decides to bring it to an expert to determine its true origin.

El Father Plays Himself(es)

A young film director returns to Venezuela, inspired to make a film based on his father's life in the Amazon jungle (La Fortaleza, Jorge Thielen Armand). He casts Father to play himself. What starts as an act of love and ambition — filmmaking to more deeply understand the self, and the other — spirals into a process which confronts Father’s struggles with addiction and his life devoid of his son. EL FATHER PLAYS HIMSELF holds a steady lens to the way the act of cinema unearths, binds, heals and destroys.

The Tamer(es)

Life, customs and the fight for survival in the desolate wastelands of the Venezuelan plains.

Olympus vacuum(es)

A powerful Argentine political film stands on the figure of an outsider intellectual, Sebreli, but manages to transcend it, he becomes a touchstone to go through Argentina and its dilemmas, through this country that is proud of almost everything it should be ashamed of. From national icons like Gardel, Evita, Che, and Maradona the film dialogs with recent Argentine history and it does so with extraordinary energy, supported by a rarely seen use of all kinds of archive material in an almost Dionysian state of sampleadelia. The film arrives to a surprising reflection on nationalism, demagogic governments and delusions of unanimity; problems that are common to emerging societies that cannot find their ways to a freer and more egalitarian society.

Venezuela at Home(es)

Two groups of Venezuelan dancers, while preparing for a dance battle, survive at traffic lights in the streets of Medellín. A group reflection on love, family and identity, far from home.

Final Absolution: History of a Photograph(es)

During a military uprising known as “El Porteñazo”, a priest is photographed while trying to help a soldier wounded in combat. The photo travels the world and is awarded the most important prizes in photojournalism, such as the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press. Throughout this documentary, photographers, editors and witnesses reveal various aspects surrounding that image: who is the priest, who was its author, the events that surrounded the photographic event, what was its political role and what said image represents in the history of Venezuelan journalism. Additionally, it allows the presentation of other photographs, some unpublished, that Rondón managed to capture in those difficult moments.

La Memoria es un Caracol(es)

Documentary about the life of Luis Mariano Rivera.

Bringing Out A Smile(es)

The daily life of the volunteers of the Compañeros de Batalla foundation, dedicated to providing support and hope to the children fighting cancer at the Pediatric Specialties Hospital in Maracaibo.

Autana(en)

Adventure climber Leo Houlding and film maker Alastair Lee are back with another sumptuous production of truly epic proportions. This time Leo (UK) and fellow climbers Sean Leary (USA) and Jason Pickles (Salford) head deep into the Amazon in an attempt to make the first ascent of the east face of the remote tepuy; Cerro Autana.

Beauty Factory(en)

From oratory classes to operating room, Beauty Factory follows five girls for four months as they compete for the coveted Miss Venezuela crown; revealing the process that has won Venezuela more international beauty pageants than any other country.

Echando Raíces(es)

Ruina(en)

A squatted bank tower in downtown Caracas is transformed into a socialist micro-society by 3000 people. RUINA tells about difficulties and achievements by building up a community in a vertical city.

Torre David(en)

Torre David, a 45-story office tower in Caracas, was almost complete when it was abandoned following the death of its developer and collapse of the Venezuelan economy. Today, it is the improvised home of more than 750 families, living in an extra-legal occupation that some call a vertical slum.

Así Pasó(pt)