2007, Lively Year for Venezuelan Films

Caracas.- The first work of filmmaker Carlos Villega, "Al borde de la l¡nea," opened an energetic film year in Venezuela, with the expected premiere of 36 films.

The plan is to produce triple the movies of 2006, with 26 of them to be produced with government funds. In 2006 Venezuela premiered 11.

In a statement to Prensa Latina, Villegas said the film opens many expectations for him, after a career in television and documentaries in Mexico, where he resides.

The Venezuelan government, through the Ministry of Culture and the National Autonomous Filmmaking Center, will outlay over 3.5 million dollars for the production of films, documentaries, and cartoons.

The fiction long-length films "Un lugar lejano" by Jose Ramon Novoa and "Boves, El Urogallo" by Luis Alberto Lamata stand among the selected proposals.

Meanwhile, "La Uva" by Alexandra Henao, "Mujer del Tirano" by Ernesto Solo, "Chiqui chiqui Bom" by Belen Orsini and "Libre" by Natalia Machado are among the fiction short-length projects to be benefited.

This year, there was a considerable increase on the support to the new filmmakers with a higher contribution to the first works (two in the genre of fiction and another seven in the section of documentary.)

Cuban Doctors Inspire Venezuelan Film

Filmmaker Roman Chalbaud, one of the most important directors in Venezuelan cinema, confirmed he would make a film on the humanitarian work carried out by the Cuban medical brigades in his country.

The famous director of such films as “Un pez que fuma” (1977) and “Cangrejo” (1985) stated that the future film would be based on the book by Cuban investigator Enrique Ubieta, who travelled throughout Venezuela for nine months.

According to the director, the Uruguayan filmmaker and writer Ugo Ulive will be in charge of the screenplay and there is plenty of enthusiasm surrounding the project.

The outstanding director also referred to the successes of his most recent production “El Caracazo” (2005) that won the jury´s prize at the Trieste Festival and the Glauber Rocha Award conferred by the foreign press accredited in Cuba in the Havana Festival.

(Source: Prensa Latina)