Actor Danny Glover is planning on making his directorial debut next year with an epic about Haitian independence hero Toussaint-Louverture. Glover recently told the press that he had difficultly finding financiers to back the film because there were not enough “white heroes.” Glover told Paris’ AFP, "Producers said 'It's a nice project, a great project... where are the white heroes?'" That’s a bit of a strange request considering the film is about the liberation of Haiti, the worlds first free Black republic and the first country in the western hemisphere to abolish slavery.It was especially difficult to finding funding for the film in Europe, according to Glover, "I couldn't get the money here, I couldn't get the money in Britain. I went to everybody… The first question you get, is 'Is it a black film?’ All of them agree, it's not going to do good in Europe, it's not going to do good in Japan.”
That’s where Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez comes in. Glover received 18 of the 30 million dollars needed to fund the film from Villa del Cine, a new government-funded studio outside of Caracas, which is part of Chavez’s effort to combat what he calls “the Hollywood film dictatorship.” Chavez hopes that Toussaint will teach international audiences about imperialism and Western oppression and hegemony.Many Venezuelan filmmakers and producers are not too excited about Villa del Cine’s $18 million investment in Toussaint. In an open letter the National Association of Film Makers and the Venezuelan Chamber of Film Producers said "It is Mr. Glover who should be bringing dollars to Venezuela."
I hope the film gets made and has a decent release/distribution because it an extremely important but often overlooked part of history. I also hope that the film is able to generate money for the Venezuelan film industry and help establish it as a progressive media powerhouse. Keep an eye out for Toussaint in 2009.
Props to Playahata.com for putting me on to this story.
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