Link This |
Email this |
Blog This |
Comments (0)
Interview With Producer of "Blood Diamond" Documentary Airing This Saturday
December 28, 2006
This Saturday, Dec. 30 at 6 PM (Eastern Time), "Blood Diamonds," a documentary about everyone's favorite topic, premieres on the History Channel. It is repeating twice during the day Friday, January 5. My thoughts in a bit, but first, my interview with its executive producer Bill Brummel:
On his documentary: [Parts of it are] brutal. It could have been a lot more brutal. We saw things that we would never put in the show.
This is not trying to be an attack piece on the diamond industry. We are not calling for a boycott. Personally, I think that would be counter-productive, and cause a lot of people harm.
We really tried to be balanced. We have interviews with Andy Bone of De Beers, and Cecilia Gardner [of the World Diamond Council/JVC.] .... [ed. note: Saul Golberg's in there too!]
On the "Blood Diamond" movie: It was a big Hollywood movie, and some of its scenes are Hollywood scenes. It's trying to be an action film and tell you a serious story and I think it succeeds on both levels.
It is also a good thing that films like this get made. This will bring attention to the topic, and insure people are educated.
What he would say to the diamond industry: The Kimberley Process was a huge and very important step forward. I commend the industry and the NGOs for sprearheading the effort. I would encourage the NGOs to still be a watchdog and I hope they continue to work to address the issue and close whatever loopholes that are there.
The question I really do have is what happens is another conflict breaks out. I don't know if once a conflict comes, the Process will be effective. It's an open-ended question.
To me, you have to address all the underlying causes of conflict -- the poverty, the social aspects, the corruption -- and that is why the Diamond Development Initiative is so important.
My impressions after seeing a screener from the History Channel... First off, Alex Yearsley was right ... This show is brutal, far harsher than the Hollywood version. It is not surprising the History Channel is basically burying it.
On the other hand, this is the best and most thorough treatment of this subject to date, and that includes the Blockbuster That Wasn't and every other book on the topic (in fact, if the documentary has a fault, it relies too much on interviews with authors, whose comments are mostly out-of-date and not particularly perceptive.) I barely noticed any factual errors, which is, sadly, pretty rare for shows and books about the diamond industry.
Is it balanced? Well ... the industry would probably want more talk about Botswana (it gets about a minute of screen time) with a few choice Mandela quotes thrown in. But, aside from that, it does include the industry point of view and is mostly a straightforward history, including a good summing-up of the war in Sierra Leone. Its segment on Angola is the most damning about the industry's actions and spin, and probably rightly so.
In my post on "Blood Diamond," I recommended everyone in the industry see it because it drives home why this issue is important. That goes double for this film.
Finally, if you are affected by this film, let me call your attention to this post from way back, the very end of which includes ways to help Sierra Leone. Here is hoping that in 2007 and the years to come, this topic really will be history. And as this is probably be my last post for the year, I hope all of you have a great 2007 ....
Posted by Rob Bates on December 28, 2006 | Comments (0)
