[R-G] Chavez-Funded Movie Hits Screens

[Anthony Fenton]

Copyright 2007 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved
Associated Press Online

October 12, 2007 Friday 8:39 PM GMT

SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

LENGTH: 304 words

HEADLINE: Chavez-Funded Movie Hits Screens

BYLINE: By FABIOLA SANCHEZ, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: CARACAS Venezuela

BODY:


President Hugo Chavez is taking on Hollywood with the first major  
film produced by his government.

The historical saga about Venezuelan independence hero Francisco de  
Miranda was produced by Venezuela's new state film studio. At the  
Thursday night premiere, Chavez called it an effort to counter  
Hollywood's global domination.

"There is no revolution if we don't recover our culture, our own  
values," Chavez said. "It's part of the fight against (U.S.) imperial  
hegemony."

"Miranda Regresa," or "Miranda Returns," is directed by Luis Alberto  
Lamata and features Jorge Reyes as the hero who led Venezuela's  
independence struggle against Spain before dying in prison in 1816.

American actor Danny Glover, a supporter of Chavez, also plays a  
minor fictional role as a Haitian who meets Miranda in New York and  
joins his struggle.

The movie includes vivid battle scenes with cannon fire, and a  
meticulous wardrobe from the period, though flaws are apparent in  
details like music that at times drowns out softly spoken dialogue.  
The audience that joined Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael  
Correa at the screening received it with applause.

The film was produced with a budget of $2.3 million by the state-run  
Cinema Town, which Chavez founded last year. It was shot in  
Venezuela, Cuba and the Czech Republic.

The studio is producing three dozen other movies, documentaries and  
TV programs, including a film about Luis Posada Carriles, a former  
CIA operative who is accused by Venezuela and Cuba of masterminding  
the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner.

Critics say that a heavy government hand in filmmaking may put  
politics before art. But Lamata denied serving political aims, saying  
"we tried to take an objective view of Miranda" to teach viewers  
about a historical figure.

He said the movie will be shown at international film festivals.