London Indymedia

The revolution will be screened

rampart | 07.06.2004 19:31 | London

Another film night at the Rampart, 7 Rampart Street, E1 2LA, off commercial road...


Wednesday 9th June, from 8pm

the RAMPART presents ...

Latin American night,

Doors open 8pm with latin beats and short films including...

* School of the Americas - action to close down the terrorist training camps of the United States government.

Main feature begins 9pm...


THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED - 74 MINUTES
DIRECTED AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY KIM BARTLEY AND DONNACHA O'BRIAIN, IRELAND, 2003
[SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES]

On April 12th 2002 the world awoke to the news that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had been removed from office and had been replaced by a new interim government. What had in fact taken place was the first Latin American coup of the 21st century, and the world's first media coup...

HUGO CHAVEZ ELECTED PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA IN 1998, IS A COLORFUL, UNPREDICTABLE FOLK HERO, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office.
They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état. It's a unique document about political muscle and an extraordinary portrait of the man The Wall Street Journal credits with making Venezuela "Washington‚s biggest Latin American headache after the old standby, Cuba."

 http://www.chavezthefilm.com/html/film/home_film.htm

After the main feature will another film, TBA, starting around 10.30pm




rampart

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

Wag the Dog

08.06.2004 00:17

Looks like the final film may be 'Wag the Dog' 1997
staring Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro and Woody Harrelson

So, why did the US invade Grenada? By the time it was over, Ronald Reagan's presidency had proven the republic could still flex its muscle and the the US could take out a Caribbean Marxist regime at will, Cuba notwithstanding.

Barry Levinson's ``Wag the Dog'' cites Grenada as an example of how easy it is to whip up patriotic frenzy, and how dubious the motives sometimes are. The movie is a satire that contains just enough realistic ballast to be teasingly plausible; like ``Dr. Strangelove,'' it makes you laugh, and then it makes you wonder.

In the movie, a U.S. president is accused of luring an underage ``Firefly Girl'' into an anteroom of the Oval Office, and there presenting her with opportunities no Firefly Girl should anticipate from her commander in chief. A presidential election is weeks away, the opposition candidate starts using ``Thank Heaven for Little Girls'' in his TV ads, and White House aide Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) leads a spin doctor named Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro) into bunkers far beneath the White House for an emergency session.

Brean, a Mr. Fixit who has masterminded a lot of shady scenarios, has a motto: ``To change the story, change the lead.'' To distract the press from the Firefly Girl scandal, he advises extending a presidential trip to Asia, while issuing official denials that the new B-3 bomber is being activated ahead of schedule. ``But there is no B-3 bomber,'' he's told. ``Perfect! Deny it even exists!''

Meanwhile, he cooks up a phony international crisis with Albania. Why Albania? Nobody is sure where it is, nobody cares, and you can't get any news out of it. Nobody can even think of any Albanians except--maybe the Belushi brothers? To produce the graphic look and feel of the war, Brean flies to Hollywood and enlists the services of a producer named Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman).

Motss assembles the pieces for a media blitz. As spokesmen warn of Albanian terrorists skulking south from Canada with ``suitcase bombs,'' Motss supervises the design of a logo for use on the news channels, hires Willie Nelson to write the song that will become the conflict's ``spontaneous'' anthem, and fakes news footage of a hapless Albanian girl (Kirsten Dunst) fleeing from rapists with her kitten.

But what about a martyr? Motss cooks up ``good old Shoe,'' Sgt. William Schumann (Woody Harrelson), who is allegedly rescued from the hands of the Albanians to be flown back for a hero's welcome. Shoe inspires a shtick, too: Kids start lobbing their old gym shoes over power lines, and throwing them onto the court during basketball games, as a spontaneous display of patriotism.

Okay, so Albania isn't part Latin America, but who cares...

art


excellent film .must be seen

08.06.2004 11:31

this film is the best contemporary political film i have seen. it does not fail to make you feel inspired and because of the victory against the coup it brings tears to your eyes.

red letter


Coming soon...

08.06.2004 20:25

We're planning a climate change special film night in the next week with 'The Day After Tomorrow' and a bunch of rising tide videos.

If you've got any suggestions for other films to show, please let us know.

The space is available for your events, so get intouch or come along on wednesday night and check it out.

ram part s
mail e-mail: rampart@lists.riseup.net


wow, amazing film

10.06.2004 08:23

watched the film.
loved it (the revolution will not be televised - not wag the dog)
definitly on my 'must see' reconmendations list

n


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