Dario Azzellini

A historical documentary and filmic poem that interprets the story of José Francisco Pereira, an enslaved man who was tried by the Lisbon Inquisition for sorcery and sodomy. An adaptation of Pereira’s trial is interwoven with passages from Saint Peter Damian’s passionate 11th-century condemnation of sodomy as an unrepeatable sin in Letter 31 (also known as The Book of Gomorrah), and Walter Benjamin’s iconic elucidations on historicism and progress in Theses on the Philosophy of History. The film revisits the morally and legally charged figure of the sodomite as a violent historical construction and expression of ecclesiastical, institutional, and colonial patriarchy.

5 Factories provides a penetrating look at the Bolivarian socio-economic project designed to challenge the dominant neo-liberal development model. Since the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998, the Venezuelan government has implemented reforms to transform the nation into what Chávez and his supporters refer to as a form of democratic socialism. As a component of this economic transformation, the government has supported co-ownership initiatives in which workers’ councils play a key role in company management. 5 Factories provides a unique perspective on the Bolivarian experiment, examining the successes and challenges of five companies rejecting traditional ideas of industrial management.

In the film “Venezuela from Below,” the true actors in the social process are able to speak: the grassroots. After an introduction by philosopher Carlos Lazo, workers from the oil company PDVSA in Puerto La Cruz report how in 2002/2003 they protected the refinery from breaking down during the oil sabotage, which was pawned off as a strike, and how they were able to reinstate oil production. Several farmers from a newly founded cooperative in Aragua report on their process of self organization, on the literacy campaign, and how things should continue. A women’s bank project in Miranda and several loan recipients from Caracas’ disadvantaged district, 23 de Enero, present their projects. Indígena community members near the Orinoco river in Bolívar speak about how their demands and struggles are reflected in the constitution and what has changed for them. (and more!)

In mid-February 2013 Vio.Me. began producing organic cleaning products and organic soap. Vio.Me. formed a cooperative in order to operate legally. However, Vio.Me. does not operate as a traditional cooperative. The workers do not consider the company their property but a common good that should serve the community. In the film the Vio.Me. worker Makis Anagnostou states that: “Our proposal is addressed to the whole of society, because we, as the working class, have proven that we can self-manage a factory, that we can do it ourselves, but our proposal that reaches out to society is that we can all self-manage our lives. This is why it concerns the whole of society. The factory is not a closed space, nor are we the vanguard of the working class.

In mid-February 2013 Vio.Me. began producing organic cleaning products and organic soap. Vio.Me. formed a cooperative in order to operate legally. However, Vio.Me. does not operate as a traditional cooperative. The workers do not consider the company their property but a common good that should serve the community. In the film the Vio.Me. worker Makis Anagnostou states that: “Our proposal is addressed to the whole of society, because we, as the working class, have proven that we can self-manage a factory, that we can do it ourselves, but our proposal that reaches out to society is that we can all self-manage our lives. This is why it concerns the whole of society. The factory is not a closed space, nor are we the vanguard of the working class.