Chevolution
NETLIX |RED ENVELOPE ENT. |MAGNOLIA PICTURES
Director: LUIS LOPEZ & TRICIA ZIFF
Tribeca Film Festival
How do you make a documentary about a photograph? I don't know, but we tried. This project was based on a art exhibition curated by co-director TRISHA ZIFF. Interestingly, this was also one of the first projects for the now defunct RED ENVELOPE ENTERTAINMENT (NETFLIX's initial foray into original programming).
"Chevolution zooms in and out on the famous image of Che Guevara taken at a memorial service in Havana in 1960 by Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez, the Cuban celebrity photographer turned revolutionary, who styled himself "Korda". It's a fascinating study of what one of the contributors calls "the Mona Lisa of photography", and how it entered the public domain to be exploited the world over. The film throws a revealing light on communism and capitalism, idealism and opportunism, art and commerce, and how they have interacted and operated on the same materials during the past half century. The editing is superb and Ziff and Lopez have assembled a remarkable line-up of speakers. It's a critical work about propaganda and is far from being propagandistic."
- THE GUARDIAN
