Venezuela documentary wins top media award ('Chavez - Inside the Coup' ) [View All]

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AN RTE documentary about a coup in Venezuela has won the top award in this year's ESB Media Awards.

This is the second award for the film-makers behind 'Chavez - Inside the Coup' who already received a global television grand prize at a ceremony held in Canada during the summer.

The documentary, which was screened as part of RTE's 'True Lives' series, came about when the Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain of Power Pictures visited Venezuela to film President Hugo Chavez.

They were granted virtually unlimited access to Chavez to carry out the profile and were allowed to continue filming as he was dramatically removed from office and returned to power 48 hours later.

<http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1068816&issue_id=9964>

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Politician to the People. A Review of the Documentary "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

In 1998, a passionate majority of Venezuelans elected a new president. His name was Hugo Chavez, and he was the first leader in generations to come from outside the ruling class. He vowed to redistribute Venezuela's oil wealth and to involve the people intimately in the political process. Openly comparing his populist movement to that of Simon Bolivar, he encouraged literacy, enfranchised many thousands of working poor, decried globalization, and promised to liberate his country of the "free-market policies imposed on Venezuela by the United States."

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In the fast-paced, riveting, and affecting documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, directors Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain set up shop in Venezuela to "get behind the layers of myth and rumor" surrounding Chavez' presidency. With nearly unlimited access to the presidential palace, they trace his administration from the early days of jubilant rallies and heartfelt handshakes to the shocking coup d’état that ousted the leader from power for two tense days in April 2002 -- and, in a breathtaking display of popular will, through the revolution that brought him back. The directors could not have anticipated this level of drama, but they immediately commit to it, placing themselves in harm's way to record a view from inside that is otherwise uncovered. As a result, the film cuts to the quick.

Chavez is a warm, charismatic man whose demeanor invites connection with the people of his country. He's also gifted at straight talk, giving authentic, unscripted speeches and communicating directly with the people via a weekly call-in television show. Compared with the steel-jawed opposition leaders and oil millionaires, who demonstrably lie through their teeth, Chavez is a savior, a leader who trusts the people, communicates with them, and holds himself accountable to his promises to them.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1045