Venezuelan film flourishing as society becomes more censored
Following the tradition of 1990s gay Cuban cinema, Venezuelan directors are finding creative ways to produce films that explore and criticize society despite increasing government control of TV and other media.
The debut feature "From Afar," by a little-known Venezuelan director, won top honors last week at the Venice Film Festival, one of the industry's top events.
The film is about an affair between a wealthy middle-aged man and a teenage thug set against a background of poverty and violence.
Like the prize-winning film "Bad Hair," about a poor Venezuelan boy grappling with his sexual identity, and "My Straight Son," in which a teenager goes to live with his gay father, "From Afar" was made possible by government grants.
Venezuela has never had a strong filmmaking tradition, but the South American country's 16-year-old socialist revolution has pushed to create a state-sponsored national cinema like the ones that produced Cuban and Soviet classics.
"Bad Hair" director Mariana Rondon angered officialdom when she said her 2013 film about a young boy who wants to tame his curly hair was a critique of the revolution's "with us or against us" attitude.