LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s music director, Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, will make his debut as a composer of music for film with the score for “Libertador,” a biopic about South American independence leader Simon Bolivar, The Hollywood Reporter said.

“Libertador,” a Spanish-Venezuelan production, is being called the most ambitious independent film project ever undertaken in South America.

The film “will be the South American Braveheart,” Winfried Hammacher, one of the producers, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Dudamel, who is also music director of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, will provide the music for “Libertador,” which is being directed by Alberto Arvelo.

Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez (“Carlos”) will play Bolivar.

The movie “is told from the viewpoint of Bolivar, the legendary Venezuelan military and political leader who helped secure independence from the Spanish empire,” The Hollywood Reporter said.

The cast includes Spain’s Imanol Arias, Maria Valverde and Juana Acosta, as well as Danny Huston and Gary Lewis.

The screenplay was written by Timothy Sexton, the author of “Children of Men.”

“Arvelo recently wrapped shooting in Venezuela before moving the production to Spain. All told, there are more than 100 different sets employed in the film and more than 10,000 extras,” The Hollywood Reporter said.

Dudamel became famous for his dynamic performances with musicians from Venezuela’s National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras. EFE