Saturday, May 19, 2007
Hugo Chavez Funds $19.7 Million for Danny Glover Films
Venezuela will fund a film directed by Hollywood star Danny Glover about Haiti's 18th-century slave rebellion against French rule, as President Hugo Chavez seeks to revive interest in his region's battles against colonialism.
Venezuela's Congress said on its Web site on Monday it had set aside $19.7 million for two films, one of which was Glover's movie about Haiti's Francois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, an iconic revolutionary leader in the Caribbean nation.
The film would mark Glover's debut as a feature film director. According to entertainment industry magazine Daily Variety, Glover started Louverture Films to focus on Afro-Caribbean themes and to provide opportunities for minorities.
Glover, co-star of the "Lethal Weapon" films with Mel Gibson, has long expressed political sympathy for Chavez, an anti-U.S. leader who is forging a socialist republic and politicizing the army and judiciary of the OPEC nation.
Chavez has encouraged Venezuelans to become better informed about Latin America's historical independence leaders, drawing parallels between their struggles and his government's antagonism with the United States.
Venezuela will fund a film directed by Hollywood star Danny Glover about Haiti's 18th-century slave rebellion against French rule, as President Hugo Chavez seeks to revive interest in his region's battles against colonialism.
Venezuela's Congress said on its Web site on Monday it had set aside $19.7 million for two films, one of which was Glover's movie about Haiti's Francois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, an iconic revolutionary leader in the Caribbean nation.
The film would mark Glover's debut as a feature film director. According to entertainment industry magazine Daily Variety, Glover started Louverture Films to focus on Afro-Caribbean themes and to provide opportunities for minorities.
Glover, co-star of the "Lethal Weapon" films with Mel Gibson, has long expressed political sympathy for Chavez, an anti-U.S. leader who is forging a socialist republic and politicizing the army and judiciary of the OPEC nation.
Chavez has encouraged Venezuelans to become better informed about Latin America's historical independence leaders, drawing parallels between their struggles and his government's antagonism with the United States.
