The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

It's not often that I am profoundly moved by a documentary, but this film, by two Irish film makers not only moved me to tears, but to anger, outrage, and finally to a feeling of triumph.

The film in question is, THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED (also known in a made shorter for television version as, Chavez: Inside The Coup.

Directed and photographed by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain, the film documents the unsuccessful and shortlived coup staged in April 2002, against the democratically elected President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Here is a brief synopsis of the documentary from the film's website:

HUGO CHAVEZ ELECTED PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA IN 1998, IS A COLORFUL, UNPREDICTABLE FOLK HERO, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état. It's a unique document about political muscle and an extraordinary portrait of the man The Wall Street Journal credits with making Venezuela "Washington's biggest Latin American headache after the old standby, Cuba."

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised has won a raft of Best Documentary awards to date including: Malaga Int'l Film Festival (Spain) , FID Marseilles Film Festival (France) , Galway Film Fleadh, (Ireland) , 3 Continents Film Festival, (South Africa) , 16th Seagate Foyle Film Festival, Northern Ireland , International Documentary Awards (IDA’s), USA, Banff 2003 Television Festival, Prix Italia 2003, ESB Media Awards, Grierson 2003: The British Documentary Awards, and many others.

This film is highly recommended for an understanding of the events surrounding the Venezuelan coup of April 2002, and for some insight into how powerful forces, which are for the most part hidden, conspire to destroy fragile democracies just because those forces don't agree with the choices 'the people' freely make regarding their own lives.

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