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Viva Venezuela! GH1 used in short documentary about socialism in Venezuela
  • lefteditleftedit

    let me know your thoughts! Long live the GH1 ! This is our first documentary filmed in Venezuela this year. Part 2 coming soon (longer, more depth, more interviews, more information!)

  • 36 Replies sorted by
  • MirrorkisserMirrorkisser

    very nice! just the subtitles are annoying sometimes.

    Also i am very curious how this thing develops. If its an anachronism with many known bad sideeffects or whether it really is something good and new that can stand up against hardcore capitalism. we shall see

  • AlbertZAlbertZ

    really nice :)

  • arnarfjodurarnarfjodur

    Nice. Reminds me of the beginning of The Battle of Chile - which, as I recall, begins with street interviews close to the election. Would have been interesting perhaps to hear from some opposition or indifferent people - not because I think all documentaries have to show "both sides" - but simply to understand better what the conflict are about. The star of the show was the young woman in the yellow t-shirt in the car - she was really sharp.

  • rikyxxxrikyxxx

    I've been there, only a few days as a turist, but enough time to realize how complex things are over there.

    On one hand Chavez has been the first president who created real social programs for the population using oil extraction proceeeds. On the other I found militar control and governative propaganda a little bit too suffocating for my "liberal" taste...

    About the video: good work :-)

  • xenogearsxenogears

    My friends; i live in Venezuela, Caracas city, i just gonna talk about the video work because the work it self is too biased (too much). Is good to see the GH1 defending herself as a nice documentary tool, the subtitles are a little annoying, also the focus hunt, the audio is in camera? i see some mics around, are recorded externally on in camera?

    Cheers.

  • kellar42kellar42

    While much of the apparently large community of Venezuelan ex-patriots here in Panama is made up of wealthy individuals who fled with their assets, the several that I know are humble, good natured folks who work harder and more reliably than anyone I've ever seen in Latin America. They universally hate Chavez, and many were deeply saddened by the recent election.

    I understand that things are complex down there, and that too many people were ignored and mis-treated for too long. The current regime is not 'the solution' however. I think the Hollywood celebrities hob-nobbing down there are especially ridiculous...there is little 'liberal' about an autocratic, all controlling government, whatever their social programs.

  • DuncanarioDuncanario

    @kellar42 You don't have to agree with what they do but don't just parrot the same old garbage the western media churns out. Venezuela is arguably the most democratic country on earth. Their constitution allows for almost any law to be repealed if enough signatures are raised by petition. What you said isn't based on facts at all. Venezuela is far more democratic than the US for example where the two parties are just two cheeks of the same arse (to steal a phrase).

  • rikyxxxrikyxxx

    @kellar42 You can use the word "regime" for Cuba (and many other countries) not for Venezuela. I can agree that their democracy is imperfect (which one isn't?) but the majority of venezuelans is for Chavez and they voted for him.

    An article worth reading: http://truth-out.org/news/item/12074-independent-observers-venezuelas-election-a-model-of-democracy

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    You can use the word "regime" for Cuba (and many other countries) not for Venezuela.

    Here you can't use word "regime" for any country.

  • lefteditleftedit

    greetings people.

    Thank you Vitaliy for correction on Cuba. I certainly won't tollerate such nonsense about one of the most democratic, revolutionary, nations in the world today where ordinary people are voted in and run the country. Yes, Ive been to Cuba blahblah blah but most importantly I have made efforts to understand the revolution and the peoples struggle- which is an international one. See

    (*edit- i directed the above film in 2009/10)

    OK Venezuela - critics should least allow people in Venezuela to decide their own sovereign future of their own nation - otherwise you have totally failed.

    Im from Britain (I sent a video team to make this film, im the director/editor) but I am inspired by how ordinary people are now organising against neo-liberalism, capitalism and imperialism in Venezuela. It has taken many many many years to achieve this. If you are a capitalist of course you wont like it. Im sure Venezuelan capitalists hate it the most, and international banking cartels! Haha.

    Im inspired to see so many open minded comments here tho - an understanding about Venezuela is building up around the world and this film is part of that fight. Bravo.

    About the film technically.

    xenogears - the audio was recorded into a external recorder 60% of the time, especially for interviews. It was a Tascam DR05 and the mic used is a Sennheiser cheap chinese copy of a 416. Other audio was recorded in camera - the top mic on the GH1 is really great for a built in mic! Better than the ones ive used on a Sony Z1 or EX1 I think.

    The lenses used were Canon FD 50mm, a generic c-mount 25mm and Panasonic 14mm-45mm. We had a more lenses with us, including Canon FD 28mm and 135mm, but never got used due to hectic nature of traveling around and the 'crew' in fact being a one man team with an interviewer/journalist helping sometimes.

    Tripod used was a EI-717C - which is very good by the way for about £220 ($300). Has a nice mini fluid head on it and its light and not too big, plus it extends quite high.

    Any questions - ask away!! Technical or political - ill try answer! :)

    L

  • lefteditleftedit

    PS - thanks to the people mentioning 'The Battle of Chile'. I am trying to find a copy to watch it, looks great by what i can see on youtube (no english subs on there).

    *Also - about subtitles - what exactly do people find 'annoying' about it? That they are not always centred, or that they are without much drop shadow or boxing around them?

    **Also - yes, the focus hunting on this panasonic auto lens is very annoying... but we were glad to have an auto lens, and at £80 second hand, its all we could afford :S

    ***Also - people should know this is actually the FIRST documentary we have done from this trip. We are working on a second film now as we speak!

    The whole film production costs were less than £2000 including sending the crew there and paying for their whole journey, food and accommodation.

  • rikyxxxrikyxxx

    @leftedit I love Cuba for many things (education, healthcare, etc. etc.) but when cubans will be allowed to leave the country and get internet access w/o asking for permission, or when judges, magistrates and public officials in general will not be under the strict government control, I'll call Cuba a democracy.

    No hard feelings, I'm just a liberal :-) Please respect my point of view.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @rikyxxx

    but when cubans will be allowed to leave the country and get internet access w/o asking for permission

    If you ask me, every normal country who care for interest of their people need big and good firewall.

    I am all for fragmentation.

  • johnnymossvillejohnnymossville

    If they like it, good for them. The middle class and educated have been leaving the country, so that should help as well. :)

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    The middle class and educated have been leaving the country, so that should help as well. :)

    I know good thing about so called "middle class". Sometimes it is good if part of them are leaving the country.

  • lefteditleftedit

    Cubans will have a simpler and more accessible system from January 2013 to leave the country (dont know full details but looks interesting). This was due to a popular referendum held a few years back where millions of people gave their suggestions for changes in society. If this is not democracy - what is (consider its meaning, 'people power').

    Up until now the Cuban govt did not allow people to easily leave and enter due to people leaving the country for economic reasons once they have received their university level education (paid for by the state- which is not cheap). I.e. people going to work as a doctor in the US where you are paid $200,00 per annum and medicine is a business not a human right like in Cuba. The US can only pay its doctors this kind of money because it controls the medicine industry and the world economy. Etc. Cuba is a victim of this - which in itself is immoral and Cubans must defend themselves.

    This phenomenon is known as 'brain drain' and effects all oppressed economies in the world and is a massive factor which fuels underdevelopment and distorting economies.

    Also the US has the 'Cuban Adjustment Act'. I suggest you read into this before going off on one about points of view and what is and isnt democracy. Mexicans get a bullet in the head at the border, Cubans get a warm welcome (well, at least presented with that, which is actually a lie).

    Surely they are all just undesirable Latinos, right? Wrong. You have to ask yourself why that might be. And whilst you do that ask why the US has held a repressive blockade on the Cuban economy for 50 years.

    In regards to 'internet access without permission' - what do you REALLY know about this? This is not a fact. I know many people who go on Facebook from Cuba now, and I have friends who email me freely and we discuss lots. You do not need permission, but yes a war is being waged against Cuba every day by the right-wing Miami mafia in collusion with the US govt. I would not be concerned if they were monitoring activity but so far very little signs of this - infact the blockade repressed Cuban - blocking them from certain websites by default (paypal, ebay, youtube afaik).

    Besides this, Cuba has been blockaded from real broadband access due to the illegal US blockade. They have had to access internet through a satellite system which is slow and has to be load balanced so universities and institutions get priority. Did you even know about this? Perhaps.

    Go figure. Its the USA and Europe which are introducing the most repressive backwards internet legislation to control the flow of information. Not Cuba.

  • kellar42kellar42

    Not sure about parroting Western garbage...I grew up in Latin America and have lived here most of my life.

    Glad you guys are doing so well, anyhow. Have they fixed the bridge from the airport, yet, or does it still take a 3 hour mountain detour to get into Caracas?

    And I thought regime meant a set of political conditions? Everybody's got a regime.

  • xenogearsxenogears

    @kellar42 Yes the bridge coming from La Guaira to Caracas have many years has been redone. But if you think to come to Venezuela, be sure to have a very big assurance.

  • kellar42kellar42

    Assurance, or insurance? Glad to hear about the bridge.

  • xenogearsxenogears

    Dammit, those autocorrectors on android.. jejeje; yes is insurance.

  • lefteditleftedit

    You can still grow up in Latin America and sound like you are parroting western media myths about your own country. For example, very often the oligarchs who own the media in South America will be linked back to the US, and US interests. In reality they are serving US interests.

    Just for the record I should say our crew had no problems or trouble amongst the people in Caracas, or problems with any of its vast infrastructure.

  • kellar42kellar42

    Just talking about the Venezuelans I interact with everyday. I'm sure they're biased, they don't live in Venezuela anymore for a reason, but their stories are interesting, nonetheless.

  • TronTron

    @leftedit Congrats on your documentary with the GH1. Unfortunately, we have begun to live the "socialist dream" here in the States, and it has resulted in lower incomes, class warfare and shared misery that has stolen optimism and replaced it with dependency. Our country can no longer grow at a rate that is higher than inflation which means we are not creating jobs and people have resigned themselves to believe they can no longer live the American dream. I understand that when people live in poverty their savior easily becomes any Statist who provides handouts to the poor. Unfortunately the gravy train will never last, so enjoy the fruits of socialism while you can, as a collapse akin to what is happening in Europe and soon the US is what you can expect as you inevitably run out of other people's money to redistribute.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @Tron

    How media can dumb people. With all this "socialist dream" stuff.
    Guys, you live in half broken capitalism that had been working only because good planning and good social programs, and now, due to fundamental issues both planning and social programs fail. Any further attempt to go with famous Austrian school recipes and it'll be just horrible disaster of enormous proportion.

  • arnarfjodurarnarfjodur

    @Tron

    Your phrase very clearly captures a certain ideology - that the wealth of the few somehow naturally belongs to the few. But "other people's money" is wealth that has systematically been channeled to the hands of few, but is created by society as a whole. Using some of Venezuela's oil resources to fund programs that benefit broader sections of society is not "handouts to the poor" - this wealth should never have belonged to a small minority in the first place.

    Also, please - this calling something in mainstream american politics "socialism": Doing so is not an opinion - it is either banal cold-war type propaganda or just ignorance. I understand a word can have many different flavors depending on the context - but this use is absurd.

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