Danny Glover secured $18m in 2007 from the Venezuelan government to fund a film about Toussaint L'Ouverture, the leader of Haiti's slave revolt and a figure close to Mr Chávez's heart. Many independent Venezuelan film-makers complained that more money was being given to one film - and one made by a foreigner - than the entire national film industry had received in years. That the film has yet to materialise, like many of Cinema City's projects, has added to their irritation.
Nevertheless, Venezuelan film-makers are grateful that the government is at least making an effort to boost local cinema, after a long period of lean times in the 1990s. The problem is in its methods, says Mr Molina: "The influence of Hollywood, in our country or anywhere else in the world, cannot be tackled with mediocre and restrictive policies."
