6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than I expected., February 20, 2009
This was a pretty interesting DVD. Basically a national geographic journalist follows the path of the illegal diamond exporting industry. It is really very interesting. The shaky camera was my biggest gripe with it the film.
I thought the film was interesting, entertaining, and informative, so I would give it a pretty solid rating overall.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quality film, March 11, 2011
I used this film with my Geography classes and it does an excellent job of showing the results of civil war in Sierra Leone. It follows the diamonds from mines to shady dealers to smugglers to Belgium. The Kimberley Process is also discussed. It's so frustrating seeing how desperately poor these people are and yet they risk their lives in dangerous mining operations that the government has been unequipped to control. All the land that's been ripped apart for diamonds could be used for cultivation of crops. Good film.
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10 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A(nother) Tragedy in Africa, August 29, 2007
Let me admit that I have not seen DiCaprio's film "Blood Diamond." Like many documentaries produced after films, I think this one was intended for people who want to learn more facts after seeing a fictional portrayal.
The point of this work is to show that even if the diamond industry wants to ban illegal "blood" diamonds, it would be difficult to do. Like Latin American farmers who say they wouldn't grow you-know-what if they could make a livable wage off of legal plants, this work shows West Africans mining for diamonds because they are given no other alternatives. Seeing lush African land all dug up and made brown due to diamond searching reminded me of the problem of destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. The work shows that African countries get little money for their huge diamonds and that few in the industry pay taxes on their profits.
In the same way that the 1980s film "Cry Freedom" problematically centered upon Kevin Kline's character rather than Steven Biko, this work seems to focus on a journalist born in Kenya, but clearly not of African ancestry. The audience is intended to walk in his shoes and the format may be more viewer-friendly, still I wonder if it problematically decentered Africans. I wonder how this would be different if Cornel West, Ellis Cose, or even Iman had narrated the work.
In a late 1980s song "Mountains," Prince sang, "Africa divided/Conflict in the air/It's enough to make you want to lose your mind!" This was very disturbing for me to watch as an African American. The continent doesn't just have AIDS, malaria, and genocide to deal with, but this diamond mess too! I offer much love and sympathy to the Motherland and I imagine that other people of African descent will feel the same way after seeing this.
One African interviewee said, "Without love, a diamond is just a pebble." He meant that the object is still important and that he would like people to continue to buy diamonds from poor West Africans. However, this documentary put a bad taste in my mouth. I don't have the money for diamonds, but I wouldn't want to buy one if that means a little African child will get her or his arm chopped off or if an African man will die trying to find that "pebble." I'd rather give stock to a loved one if this is happening with diamonds. I'm not sure if I will even enjoy the Herb Alpert song featuring Janet Jackson called "Diamonds" anymore.
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