/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-VENEZUELA: Politics Invades the Silver Screen

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Yensi Rivero

CARACAS, Aug 11 2004 (IPS) - As Venezuela’s recall referendum on President Hugo Chávez approaches, the battle has hit the screen in two films with an impact that some compare, in local terms, to the controversy raised by films like “Fahrenheit 9/11” in the United States.

The documentary “¿Cuál revolución?” (Which Revolution?) has been adopted as an icon by the opposition while “Florentino y el Diablo” (Florentino and the Devil) is backed by supporters of the government. Both could possibly be seen as last resorts in the attempt to tip the balance on Chávez’s chances.

“¿Cuál revolución?” spends 90 minutes contrasting what Chávez has said with what he has actually done, particularly comparing election campaign promises to excruciating social realities.

Meanwhile, “Florentino y el Diablo” recreates the traditional epic poem of a duel, written in rhyming couplets, between a troubadour of the Venezuelan “llanos” (plains) and Satan seated on a black charger.

Chávez, who has been known to compare U.S. President George W. Bush with the devil and calls him the true leader of the opposition movement seeking to oust him from power, not only comes from the llanos, but sings the traditional rhyming couplets and christened his campaign for the Aug. 15 referendum “Florentino.”

The use of films as political weapons has reminded local commentators of the success of “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the documentary by Michael Moore – a demolishing portrayal of the Bush family which came out just as the president started his campaign for re-election in November.

Bernardino Herrera, a communications researcher, told IPS film or audiovisual resources are often used in times of political conflict.

“It is part of the nature of modern society, and appears to occur more vigorously in the so-called developing countries, where political and institutional traditions are still evolving and are, consequently, still weak,” he said.

But the proximity of the referendum set alarm bells ringing among Venezuela’s election authorities when extracts of “Cuál revolución?” were broadcast by private TV channels that are stridently opposed to the government.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) called on the media not to air the extracts, which it said “violate regulations on publicity and propaganda in the referendum campaign.”

The CNE has limited campaign broadcasts by radio and TV stations to three minutes a day, and the Council’s director Jorge Rodríguez said airing parts of the documentary would tend to tip the balance toward the “Yes” option of the opposition.

But Oscar Lucién, the film’s creator, said it was “a chronological recount of the last five years of government, to give the world an idea and build a story on the basis of a documentary. We were surprised by the Electoral Council communiqué to the TV stations, because this is neither an ad nor propaganda.”

In his view, the film “does not pronounce itself on the choice to be made in the referendum, but presents a critical reading of the combination of events we have lived through in the last few years.”

Oscar Reyes, a researcher of political philosophy at the Catholic University, told IPS that in Latin America “The documentary format has traditionally been used to offer a view of reality which differs from that of those who wield political power, and it is being revived here so that instead of throwing stones at each other we can air our differences in images and words,” he said.

The CNE quickly withdrew its “recommendation”, which had stimulated curiosity about and interest in “Cuál revolución?”, stating that the film could be freely broadcast, but only in its entirety and not in fragments, which could look like campaign spots.

On the other side, “Florentino y el Diablo” – directed by Michael New, Trinidad-born and settled in Venezuela, and based on a poem of the same name by the late Alberto Arvelo – has been taken up by government supporters and even Chávez himself as a banner for their cause.

“The opposition have a superiority complex, they have the devil in them and believe they are better than the rest of the population, looking down on the country and on Venezuelan ways,” Chávez said on the film’s opening day.

“Using the devil and other elements to demonise the enemy is part of political warfare, and we do not know if it is still effective. It does seem that it is, just like the old trick of kissing babies and hugging old ladies in electoral campaigns. The film ‘Florentino y el Diablo’ is very well suited to this purpose,” said Bernardino Herrera.

The idea for the film initially emerged in 1994 – before Chávez came to the presidency in 1998.

“I am not a clairvoyant or a fortune teller,” said New. “Ten years ago I did not know what was going to happen in the country. If the people see similarities with the present situation, that’s fine. I’m a bit tired of all this political controversy.”

But Edilio Peña, the scriptwriter, has distanced himself from the film, complaining at “the use of my name as the screenwriter of a film that has been used as political propaganda. When I saw New alongside Chávez on TV, I understood he had given in to the proselytising interests of the government.”

According to Earle Herrera, a professor of social communications and a Chávez supporter, “Florentino y el Diablo” “is not being judged as a film, but has been received as part of the political battle.”

New said neither of the two major film marketing companies, Blancica and Fox, had been interested in distributing the film.

“The poor majorities don’t have access to the big cinema chains that would show films like ‘Florentino y el Diablo,'” Earle Herrera added. “Therefore, the film has a very limited audience.”

Last year, pro-government interests showed the documentary “The Revolution Won’t Be Televised,” by the Irish directors Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Brien – a pro-Chávez version of the main events of April 2002, when a coup d’etat removed the president from power for 47 hours.

“The documentary genre becomes especially useful in these conditions due to the efficiency of its format and the way it adapts so well to circumstances. At other times the genre of TV soap operas was more suitable, as in the case of ‘Por estas calles,'” said Bernardino Herrera.

“Por estas calles” (Down These Streets) was a bold depiction of urban life during times of economic crisis and political upheaval that followed the failed military uprising led by Chávez, a retired paratrooper officer, in February 1992. The programme was watched by 85 percent of Venezuelan viewers in 1992 and 1993.

The state-owned TV channel has tried to recreate this success by launching “Amores de Barrio Adentro” (Love in the Neighbourhood) in the midst of the election campaign, telling week by week the story of sentimental tribulations in a Caracas neighbourhood caught up in Venezuela’s acute political confrontation. (END/IPS/LA/IP CR AE/TRASP-SM-SW/YR/HM/DCL/04)