Chavez: Inside the Coup

Winner of two Grierson Documentary Awards, this fast-paced, 'exclusive', insider view of the Venezuelan presidency in crisis has in some quarters proved almost as controversial as the populist leader Hugo Chavez himself. Granted access in April 2002 to film a political portrait, Bartley and O'Briain found themselves capturing the chaotic events of an attempted coup (48 hours which saw Chavez deposed and reinstated). Parallels with Chile under Allende are apparent, both in the politics and the backing of the opposition, but the film has also been seen by some as too partisan. Given the polarities of Venezuela's social order, however, this is understandable, and there's no denying that the fertile combination of 'right place, right time' and rapid response camerawork has produced a significant document of wide relevance.