The Venezuelan film that shows the cruelty of the Maduro regime towards the protests
A cinematic gem is created on film billboards that attracts the attention of everyone who craves a raw and bold narrative with roots deep in the events the protests that took place in Venezuela in 2014 and 2017 under the dictatorial regime of Nicolas Maduro.
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“Simon”the debut film of the Venezuelan director Diego Vincentinitakes us on an emotional and political journey The story of a student leader who, after facing the brutality of a repressive regime, is imprisoned and tortured and seeks political asylum in Miami.
The film explores themes of trauma, guilt, and the difficult decision of whether to remain in exile or return to face tyranny in their homeland.
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One of the most surprising aspects of “Simón” is that, despite its critical content and vivid depiction of the events of 2017 The regime approved its exhibition in Venezuela. However, this was not done without first inserting a warning in the clearance certificate stating that the film “may violate the anti-hate law”.
This latent threat raises the possibility that the film could be banned at any time.which adds an element of tension to its projection in the country.
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In fact, a rumor surfaced on social media that “Simón” was being censored in Venezuelan cinemas. However, so far the film has exceeded all expectations and was allowed to be shown despite warnings from the regime.
Director Diego Vicentini graduated from the prestigious school New York Film Academybegins his first feature film with the aim of conveying the experiences of the young protesters who risked their lives for change in Venezuela. The film was shot in Miami in 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemicand is inspired by an earlier short film that Vicentini made in 2019 as part of his thesis for his master’s degree.
The flyer for the film Simon. Capture
“Simón” has had an impressive journey through film festivals, garnering praise and recognition every step of the way. His festival journey began with his stellar debut at the Florida Film Festival and the Dallas International Film Festival, where he won the Audience Award for Best International Film.
However, it was in his own homeland, at the Mérida Venezuelan Film Festival, where it received its highest recognition, taking home several awards including Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and Supporting Actor. This not only shows the film’s cinematic quality, but also its ability to resonate deeply with audiences.
In addition, she was selected as a candidate to represent Venezuela in the election campaign Goya Awardsone of the most important Spanish-language film awards in the world, as well as the work selected to represent the country in the New York Latino Film Festival.
The film will be shown in various cities around the world including Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Lima, Quito, Medellín, Panama, Miami, Los Angeles, Palo Alto and Madrid. Demand for tickets was so great that they quickly sold out in several of these cities.
Scenes from the film Simón showing a young Venezuelan in the dilemma of applying for asylum in the USA or returning to his country to protest against the dictatorship. Capture
– How do you feel that this film, your first film, has this power and success?
– These days have been full of emotions since the premiere in Venezuela. It’s kind of a bittersweet feeling. Of course the filmmaker in me is happy about it. This means that the film connects, that people like it. This means that the film works, that it’s good enough that you’re not distracted by the bad, but rather connect with the characters. But The Venezuelan in me hurts. It hurts me because I see that we connect with a deep, silent wound and a pain that we all share together for the country. Many people write to me who are very grateful for telling this story, for seeing themselves represented, for not letting us forget. Because it’s about touching and feeling what hurts us, and that those wounds are bleeding there whether we want to see them or not, and thinking that maybe we’ve already gotten over it, and clearly: No, we have not overcome them, and it is very difficult to overcome something when there has been no justice. The beautiful thing is that the film was like a collective therapy, allowing to be together in a room, cry, let go and hug each other. But well, it’s bittersweet because as a filmmaker he’s cool, but as a Venezuelan it hurts me.
– Since the film was announced, there have been threats that it could be censored. Despite all this fear, why do you think your film will be shown in the middle of a dictatorship in Venezuela?
-It is difficult to guess or predict what they will do. I’m sure they will always do what they think is best for them. That said, maybe it’s so easy to think so If they censor it, it will give it more attention and show even more that they are a dictatorship and that there is no freedom of expression. Maybe people will say the film shows what the government is capable of when we protest and so let it pass. There was a lot of speculation. It is important to me that the message reaches all Venezuelans. Honestly, I’m not complaining at the moment that it’s still in theaters. Since we had received the National Works certificate, they had already given us a clause saying that we might violate the law against hatred and peaceful coexistence, which could mean a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years. And later, apparently, a lawyer filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office because we were inciting violence. We have not received any official communication, nor anything urgent about any kind of censorship. All right, everything continues to run normally and I’m happy that the message and the film are reaching Venezuelans in the country.
Diego Vicentini, the director of the film Simón, talks to Infobae. Photo: Marcos Colombo
-When you received the notice that you were probably violating the hate law with the film, were you afraid, did you think that this could be a pretext to arrest you when you returned to the country?
-Yes, of course that is a consideration. I hadn’t planned to go to the festival (in Venezuela), but I decided to go a few days before because since it’s a film about struggle, I wanted to show my face and take some risks. In the end, we all have to take risks. I didn’t want to give up on the film, even if it meant a physical risk. I had no warning that I would be leaving and I was there, I was very nervous at the screening, I suffered a lot from the film, I was sweating coldly in the cinema, the same projectionist, came down after ten minutes when he saw what the film was about and told me to tell him if anything happened. And later at the press conference all the questions came from the government criticizing the film even though there were other films. A journalist from Channel 8 (VTV, a state broadcaster) brought the clause to our attention Law against hate, that felt much more planned, how did he get this document from the Cnac (National Autonomous Center of Cinematography), if it is something between us to come here to ask us this specifically, to show that they are watching us . I contacted someone there with authority at the festival and expressed that I was nervous, but he told me to be calm, that he was there every year and I had to deal with them, he assured me that nothing would happen to me would happen. The next day I decided to go to San Cristóbal, at least not to be there (in Mérida), and when I was already on the way to Cúcuta, I received a message from this person: “Go away, don’t be here. “The person who had said that nothing would happen to me, that he understood my fear, that I had not returned to Venezuela for 13 years, that things were no longer so difficult, was the same person who gave me one Day later said I better get out.
-What did this person tell you, did they give you details about what could happen to you, or why did they warn you?
-Yes, I later spoke to this person in a little more detail, but he asked me not to mention him or talk about the details of what happened.
-Although it is a work of fiction, it is based on real testimonies. Do you think these testimonies could provide evidence for investigations into crimes against humanity against the regime?
-What I hope most is that this film can help with the topic of empathy, because these reports exist, there are thousands of them, but they are words and it is difficult to convey an emotion with text. They have already started asking me if they can use it for certain human rights meetings etc. This is one person’s story, that’s not enough to report on crimes against humanity, but the good thing is that we connect more with the individual stories. Hopefully If you finished watching the Simon movie and came away crying and overwhelmed, you might realize that there are 18,000 cases of the same phenomenon.that are included in these reports. These are the cases that we know of because we were able to talk to them, perhaps there are more. This seems like a powerful thing to me and I hope it helps any complaints that are raised along these lines.
– Did you have to censor yourself at any point while writing the film?
-No, I felt completely free. Since I don’t have any close family in Venezuela, this is a big relief since I live abroad. I assumed that they wouldn’t allow that in Venezuela, so I decided to show what I wanted to show, the truths, because I wasn’t trying not to be censored in Venezuela, but to show it as something for the international community looked at. We Venezuelans sometimes assume, based on the Criminal Court and the reports, that everyone already knows this. We believe this is already obvious. Everyone knows what happened in Venezuela, but in reality no one knows what happened in Venezuela. They’ve heard something about it for 20 years, they know things aren’t going well, but that’s all. So that was my intention, the film is bilingual, half of it in English, with the purpose of making it accessible. If you don’t know what happened in Venezuela, you can now learn more about it and what we went through. Basically, I had no inhibitions about what I wanted to tell and show.
“Simon” by Diego Vicentini. Capture
– Of all the festivals where you were awarded, it was precisely the one in Venezuela where you were awarded the most. Do you consider it an act of rebellion on the part of the festival, as it is an event celebrated within a dictatorship? Would you like to recognize the value of your work in this context?
– More than an act of rebellion, I would say it was an act of bravery. And that was something I took away from the festival, beyond whatever artistic value the film may have, I left there with the pride that there are still people willing to risk something for what think they are right. Starting with the film festival ready to show it, it was easier to say there was no space, but they called us to show it. Then the five-person jury was willing to make that decision despite the pressure, because I know there was pressure. There were good films at this festival, for example “The Shadow of the Sun”, a super film by Miguel Ferrer, it would have been an argument to give this one the prize too and it wasn’t crazy because it is very good, but they had the courage to believe that this was the right decision. The film won the festival and has now been chosen to represent us at Goya, a film about the struggle that shows what is happening in Venezuela. He will be at the world’s most important Spanish-language awards in Spain. I hope it will be a lesson to us that small acts of courage do have an impact. If we all ride this wave, I think we can make a huge impact.