Carlos Azpúrua

Directing

Carlos Azpúrua

Born 1950-01-15 · Caracas, Venezuela

Venezuelan filmmaker, known for the film Disparen a matar (Shoot to Kill) from 1991, which won the Best Debut Film award at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema and was a finalist for the Goya Award for Best Latin American Production. The film continues his preference for politically and socially charged cinema, presented with strong narrative skill and solid execution. Another notable film is Amaneció de golpe from 1998, a powerful drama about terrorism and violence, co-produced by Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba, with a screenplay by the renowned playwright José Ignacio Cabrujas.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Caño Mánamo poster
6.4

A documentary about the building of a damn near Caño Mánamo and the effects it has on the environment.

Caño Mánamo

1983

Caño Mánamo poster
6.4

A documentary about the building of a damn near Caño Mánamo and the effects it has on the environment.

Caño Mánamo

1983

La propia gente poster
9.5

This documentary is comprised of three shorts: 'El Afinque de Marín' that follows the musicians of the group Madera. 'Yo hablo a Caracas' about an indigenous leader and his reply to the authorities of the venezuelan goverment regarding the violations towards his people and finally 'Mayami Nuestro' chronicles the relationship of venezuelans during the eighties with the city of Miami.

La propia gente

1981

La propia gente poster
9.5

This documentary is comprised of three shorts: 'El Afinque de Marín' that follows the musicians of the group Madera. 'Yo hablo a Caracas' about an indigenous leader and his reply to the authorities of the venezuelan goverment regarding the violations towards his people and finally 'Mayami Nuestro' chronicles the relationship of venezuelans during the eighties with the city of Miami.

La propia gente

1981

Yo hablo a Caracas poster
NR

Yo hablo a Caracas (1978), the first documentary by Carlos Azpúrua, is marked by the luminous presence of the Yekuana shaman Barné Yavarí. This elder from the Amazonian forest articulates two powerful and prophetic warnings: first, a demand for respect toward the sovereignty of Indigenous beliefs and culture; second, a grave denunciation of the threat posed by “criollo” presence and its economically irrational logic to the natural balance of the Amazon. Through Yavarí’s voice, the film contrasts modern exploitation with a millennia-old Indigenous worldview grounded in harmony with nature, turning the documentary into an early and resonant plea for cultural dignity and ecological consciousness.

Yo hablo a Caracas

1978

Yo hablo a Caracas poster
NR

Yo hablo a Caracas (1978), the first documentary by Carlos Azpúrua, is marked by the luminous presence of the Yekuana shaman Barné Yavarí. This elder from the Amazonian forest articulates two powerful and prophetic warnings: first, a demand for respect toward the sovereignty of Indigenous beliefs and culture; second, a grave denunciation of the threat posed by “criollo” presence and its economically irrational logic to the natural balance of the Amazon. Through Yavarí’s voice, the film contrasts modern exploitation with a millennia-old Indigenous worldview grounded in harmony with nature, turning the documentary into an early and resonant plea for cultural dignity and ecological consciousness.

Yo hablo a Caracas

1978

Amazonas, el negocio de este mundo poster
8.0

Documentary about multiple the denouncement of military, religious and science sectors, in relation to the violation of the indigenous tribes of the Venezuelan Amazon by the american evangelical mission New Tribes

Amazonas, el negocio de este mundo

1987

Amazonas, el negocio de este mundo poster
8.0

Documentary about multiple the denouncement of military, religious and science sectors, in relation to the violation of the indigenous tribes of the Venezuelan Amazon by the american evangelical mission New Tribes

Amazonas, el negocio de este mundo

1987

Coup at Daybreak poster
6.8

The film follows the events of the night of February 4, 1992 in Caracas, Venezuela. That night a group of military rebels staged a coup d'etat. Venezuelans found themselves as virtual prisoners. As the coup starts and fighting takes place from a military base which is in the center of the city's most affluent areas, with both luxury high rises and palatial mansions. The area of La Carlota provides a wealth of very interesting, often flamboyant and typical characters of the Latin America upper middle and upper classes. They are among the most affected. Various vignettes in these different characters' homes are developed. These people's reactions, lifestyles, vices, and humanity come out in a very honest fashion under duress.

Coup at Daybreak

1998

Shoot to kill poster
5.8

During a police round-up, Mercedes witnesses the unjust murder of her son, a working-class man, by a police captain. Refusing to accept the official version of the story - that her son was a criminal - she launches a campaign for justice. Santiago, a young journalist moved by Mercedes's passion and determination, begins to investigate the story of the police cover-up at the risk of his own life. As the investigation develops, the film exposes the depth of Venezuela's corruption.

Shoot to kill

1990

Shoot to kill poster
5.8

During a police round-up, Mercedes witnesses the unjust murder of her son, a working-class man, by a police captain. Refusing to accept the official version of the story - that her son was a criminal - she launches a campaign for justice. Santiago, a young journalist moved by Mercedes's passion and determination, begins to investigate the story of the police cover-up at the risk of his own life. As the investigation develops, the film exposes the depth of Venezuela's corruption.

Shoot to kill

1990

No artwork available
NR

Narrates the events of the epic day that occurred over the border bridges that unite Colombia and Venezuela on the morning of February 23, 2019, when the right-wing organized the Venezuela Aid Live Concert in Cúcuta as a destabilizing act, based on an alleged shipment of humanitarian aid.

La batalla de los puentes

2020

Sabino vive: las últimas fronteras poster
NR

The documentary recreates the facts in the life of the Yukpa Chief, Sabino Romero, an indigenous fighter killed on March 3, 2013, in the Chaktapa community of the Sierra de Perija in Zulia state, Venezuela. The film reflects the infinite struggle of Sabino and his people, accompanied by the social groups, in this story of truly libertarian images made with blood and fire, revealing the skein of interests that forged and carried out Sabino's murder, and the attitude Inhuman and murderous of those who made it another victim of history.

Sabino vive: las últimas fronteras

2015

Sabino vive: las últimas fronteras poster
NR

The documentary recreates the facts in the life of the Yukpa Chief, Sabino Romero, an indigenous fighter killed on March 3, 2013, in the Chaktapa community of the Sierra de Perija in Zulia state, Venezuela. The film reflects the infinite struggle of Sabino and his people, accompanied by the social groups, in this story of truly libertarian images made with blood and fire, revealing the skein of interests that forged and carried out Sabino's murder, and the attitude Inhuman and murderous of those who made it another victim of history.

Sabino vive: las últimas fronteras

2015

Sabino vive: las últimas fronteras poster
NR

The documentary recreates the facts in the life of the Yukpa Chief, Sabino Romero, an indigenous fighter killed on March 3, 2013, in the Chaktapa community of the Sierra de Perija in Zulia state, Venezuela. The film reflects the infinite struggle of Sabino and his people, accompanied by the social groups, in this story of truly libertarian images made with blood and fire, revealing the skein of interests that forged and carried out Sabino's murder, and the attitude Inhuman and murderous of those who made it another victim of history.

Sabino vive: las últimas fronteras

2015

Mi vida por Sharon, ¿o qué te pasa a ti? poster
8.0

Carlitos López tries to recover her robbed car named Sharon, even if that risks his relationships with his ex-wife, girlfriend, and family.

Mi vida por Sharon, ¿o qué te pasa a ti?

2006

Mi vida por Sharon, ¿o qué te pasa a ti? poster
8.0

Carlitos López tries to recover her robbed car named Sharon, even if that risks his relationships with his ex-wife, girlfriend, and family.

Mi vida por Sharon, ¿o qué te pasa a ti?

2006