Oliver Stone Visits the Aero

(Oliver Stone, above.)


Text and Photos by Terry Keefe

Filmmaker Oliver Stone appeared at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica, this past Wednesday, December 8th, to speak about his new documentary, South of the Border, in which he visits with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, along with the leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Ecuador, amongst others.

From Oliver Stone's Statement about the film, on its website:

I was invited to Venezuela to meet President Hugo Chávez for the first time during his aborted rescue mission of Colombian hostages, held by FARC, during Christmas of 2007. As is often the case, the man I met was not the man I’d read and heard about in the U.S. media. I was able to return in January 2009 to interview President Chávez in more depth.

Was Hugo Chávez really the anti–American force we’ve been told he is? Once we began our journey, we found ourselves going beyond Venezuela to several other countries, and interviewing seven Presidents in the region, telling a larger and even more compelling story, which has now become South of the Border.

Leader after leader seemed to be saying the same thing. They wanted to control their own resources, strengthen regional ties, be treated as equals with the U.S., and become financially independent of the International Monetary Fund. Based on our experiences in Iraq, Americans must question the role of our media in demonizing foreign leaders as our enemies. The consequences of this can be brutal. This is a continuing story. It is going on right now with Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. Hopefully, in our film, you’ll get to hear a far different side of the “official” story.

The film's trailer and further information can be found at its website.