Alberto Arvelo’s Simón Bolívar epic The Liberator – Libertador starring Edgar Ramírez will represent Venezuela as the foreign language Oscar submission.

Spanish actress María Valverde, Danny Huston, Imanol Arias and Gary Lewis also star in the story of Bolivar’s fight to free South America from Spanish rule and his role in establishing the Hispanic-American republic of Gran Colombia.

Mundial handles international sales on The Liberator – Libertador and Cohen Media Group holds North American rights and will release theatrically on October 3. 

The film generated close to 600,000 admissions when it opened in Venezuela on July 24. The Venezuelan committee chose the film for its “artistic and production value, staging/realisation, music and photography.”

Timothy Sexton wrote the screenplay and Ana Loehnert, Winfried Hammacher and Arvelo produced. Ramírez served as executive producer with Maria A Guerrero Rocca. 

The film shot in Venezuelan locations such as Llanos de Acarigua, Parque Nacional de Canaima and Caracas, in addition to the Spanish cities of Jerez, Barbate, Zahara, Carmona, Seville, Sierra Nevada, Alcalá de Henares, Chinchón and Madrid.