THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

D: Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Briain.

Documentary Feature Special Screenings, U.S. Premiere This film is a finely crafted work, but it is the story itself that will keep you leaning forward in your seat, hands clenched to your knees. The filmmakers were allowed unfettered access to Hugo Chavez, the controversial president of Venezuela, as he goes about his daily routine. Their portrait of the maverick statesman is compelling in its own right, but what follows is a revelation. A coup, orchestrated by a well-organized group of wealthy media owners and generals, takes the palace with the filmmakers inside. Meanwhile, the TV stations broadcast a version of the events that casts Chavez as a murderer and the coup leaders as liberators. But that is not the end of the story. This is a film that challenges the conventional wisdom about Chavez fed to us by our administration (who tacitly supported the coup) and the American media.

This article appears in March 21 • 2003.

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