Oliver Stone is out to change the way we think about South America and its leaders with his new documentary South of the Border. Filmed last year, the film covers a number of conversations with some of the more notorious (pick the title you enjoy) presidents/leaders/dictators that took place last year…
South of the Border chronicles Stone’s travels to South America in the winter of 2009 and tells the story of the rise to power of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and other South American presidents responsible for sweeping changes in the region. Described as a “political Buena Vista Social Club road movie,” the film features intimate conversations with 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).
There are eight total stops on the trip-
May 18 Madrid, Spain premiere with Presidents from the film
May 28 Caracas, Venezuela premiere with President Hugo Chavez
May 29 “Cine Movil” Mobile community screening in Bolivar Place, Caracas
May 30 Quito, Ecuador Premiere with President Rafael Correa
May 31 Sao Paulo, Brazil Premiere
June 1 Outdoor premiere in Cochabamba, Bolivia with President Evo Morales
June 2 Paraguay Premiere with President Fernando Lugo
June 3 Buenos Aires, Argentina premiere
Hollywood celebrities embracing South American leaders with… complicated relationships with the US is nothing new (I’m wondering if Sean Penn makes a cameo) but I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets Stone significant attention in the states.
Stone can also look forward to some grassroots social media support from Chavez on his brand new twitter account– maybe they can even host a back-and-forth Twitter interview (#antiimperialistforlife). Venezuela recently voted to abolish term limits, so there’s a strong chance Hugo will be around for a while, in case Stone’s got sequels in mind.
We’ve got some rock’n’roll Chewers from South America, maybe we’ll hear from someone that gets to attend one of these South of the Border premieres.
The film will be released wide in North America on June 25th.