Oliver Stone’s new documentary, South of the Border, premiered last night at El Coliseo La Coronilla, one of Bolivia’s largest indoor sports stadiums, in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. President Evo Morales attended premiere, which attracted more than six thousand people, along with the Mayor of Cochabamba, who presented Stone with the key to the city.
The Cochabamba premiere followed a series of other premieres for the film in Spain and South America attended by the presidents/prime ministers of Ecuador, Paraguay, Haiti and Venezuela. The film will be released across South America in June and nationwide in the U.S. by Cinema Libre Studio starting June 25.
“I don’t think in my entire career in cinema I’ve seen a crowd so big to see a movie of mine,” Stone told the audience in Cochabamba. “I’m honored to bring this film to Cochabamba.”
Philippe Diaz, founder of Cinema Libre Studio, added: “We are thrilled by the extraordinarily warm welcome South of the Border has received in Bolivia and throughout South America. This film is a testament to the power of cinema to transcend political and cultural barriers while attracting a whole new international movie audience.”
South of the Border chronicles Stone’s travels to South America in the winter of 2009 and tells the story of the rise to power of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and other South American presidents responsible for sweeping changes in the region. The film features intimate conversations with Chávez, Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Néstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba).
Directed by the three-time Academy Award winner Oliver Stone (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK), the film has been produced by Fernando Sulichin, Rob Wilson and Jose Ibanez, and Executive Produced by Chris Hanley. Tariq Ali, historian and author of Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, serves as screenwriter with Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center of Economic Policy and Research in D.C. The film will be distributed by Pampa Films in Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay and Chile; Europa Filmes in Brazil; and Raul Chamorro in Venezuela. It will be released by Dogwoof in the U.K. on July 30.
About Cinema Libre Studio
Cinema Libre Studio has been a leader in the distribution of social issue and political films that tackle timely issues. The company is a haven for independent filmmakers offering one-stop shopping for production through distribution. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company is best known for distributing award-winning films that include: Outfoxed, Uncovered: The War on Iraq, Participant Media’s Angels In The Dust, and The End of Poverty?.