Oliver Stone is one of those filmmakers who gets labelled a maverick even if, for all intents and purposes, he is working within the studio system. Most of his films to date have attracted both awards and controversy, especially his bio-pics of powerful leaders, which seem to be contrary to the existing or commonly held views of his subjects. His latest film, a non-fiction trip into Latin America, continues with his fascination with men of power and his ongoing battle with the media, remembering that the Tarantino penned Natural Born Killers was a satirical indictment of the press.

South of the Border looks at the revolution that has happened in Latin America over the last 15 years as what were once poor third world countries being ravaged by political instability and dictators, supported by US corporations and government agencies, have become new symbols of socialist independence. These countries (Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil) are now amongst the richest in the world, free from debt to the oppressive IMF. The main focus of the documentary, although Stone prefers to call it a road movie, is Hugo Chavez, the much-maligned leader of Venezuela, who is under constant attack and smearing from the dominant right-wing US media.

In fact, the film opens up with a bunch of Fox News pundits/ignoramuses spouting ill-informed opinions that would be laughable if so many people didn't take them as fact. It also shows archive footage of Caracas as a thriving modern metropolis funded by the country's abundant oil wealth, before US intervention fractured it. The historical background in the film is brief, so it is worth watching a film such as The Shock Doctrine (also distributed by Dogwoof) that explains the US economic and political policies in Latin America, which sets the ground for the rise of socialism in Latin America, and more amazingly how they were able get out of that oppression. At a recent press conference, Stone and the film's writer Tariq Ali, pointed out that the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, meant that the US government "took their eye off the ball" in South America, removing the military forces, thereby allowing local and indigenous leaders to take office and reclaim their land and resources.

Having already made a documentary about Fidel Castro, Stone was known in the region as a sympathiser to the Leftist cause (rather ironic for the man who created Gordon Gekko, the poster boy for corporate greed in the '80s), so he had very little problem getting access to the leaders of the new Bolivarian states. One of the faults with the film is its lack of real balance as it mostly consists of interviews with the various leaders, which the film's detractors would deem to be propaganda. The truth, as always, must lie somewhere in between.

There is no denying that the new Bolivarians have done a lot to drag their countries out of poverty brought about years having their wealth being siphoned off by US corporations. These leaders are clearly not the mad, communist dictators that the US media is painting them to be, and the fact that, for first time in recent history, there are indigenous leaders who actually care about their people has to be a good thing. Of course, there will invariably still be problems with poverty and injustice that the previous corrupt system took decades to create, and will take more time to correct, but this film does show that under these leaders change is happening.

The movie has been hastily shot and put together and certainly lacks any of the production values you come to expect from a film with Stone's name attached, but in the rapidly changing world of politics this is an important document on how democratic socialism is a far fairer system than the brand of democracy imposed on countries by the US, with their adherence to Milton Friedman's doctrine of a free economy (ie corporate greed).

To get a clearer view of what is happening south of the border, this film should be seen with the aforementioned The Shock Doctrine (or better still, read Naomi Klein's book on which it was based) and with Eyes Wide Open by Uruguayan filmmaker Gonzalo Arijon, which takes a more grassroots perspective of what is happening. Eyes Wide Open is actually a better and more balanced film, but equally positive take on the new Bolivarian revolution, however it doesn't have UK distribution at present. In the meantime see South of the Border, it will still open your eyes.