Blood Diamonds Movie: The Industry, Sierra Leone and The Boycott

I must admit that when I first heard of this Blood Diamonds movie, I thought it was a good idea… but I was thinking about the potential positive elements to the movie. I guess I dreamt of a world famous actor like Di Caprio coming to Sierra Leone, falling in love with the country and building a home somewhere around Koidu… or of local actors such as Freetong Players been given a chance to break into the US market!! Other forumites however, did take a more cautious approach to the news, reminding us that even an uplifting story such as Amistad did not yield any positive or lasting benefits for Sierra Leone. Anyway it turns out this Blood Diamond movie was filmed in Mozambique, South Africa and some scenes shots in the UK. Di Caprio even took some time out to visit the SOS Childrens Village in Mozambique.

The Industry’s challenge

We have been tracking this in the Visit Sierra Leone forum since June 2005 when the making of the movie was first announced and things have come a long way since then. There is some talk that this film threatens to rock the diamond industry, shake the way we look BLING! Even the hip hop artists are getting into the act. Kanye West’s rap tune “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” broke the issue to a new generation of “ICE” consumers who had little knowledge about “Conflict Diamonds” as they are also called. This was followed swiftly by news that Kanye West, Jadakiss, Paul Wall and Tony Calderon would be heading to Sierra Leone

. Kanye and Jadakiss did not make it in the end but Raekwon, Paul Wall and Tego Calderon where there to film their bits for the documentary Bling: A Planet Rock (2006). All of this and we have not mentioned that Sierra Leone’s 10 year war was most popular for diamonds and severed limbs and for most, a direct relationship between the two. There were various highlighting the evil that accompanied the sale of blood diamonds. See: Amnesty Magazine ; Blood Diamonds are for Never

The industry has cleaned up its act a lot since those days but as Sierra Leone knows too well… years of negative publicity cannot just be wiped out overnight – even if you’re De Beers. So are they running scared? There is talk that they have “recruited” the services of none other than Nelson Mandela to speak “defend” De Beers. The ol’ man came under some criticism for that but in truth, he is speaking out for the diamond industry and has always been against a boycott of diamonds, something he feels will be detrimental to economies of country who depend on diamonds as a major source of revenue such as South Africa and of course Sierra Leone. I have to say, based on that reasoning the wise ol man is right, again. As far as I know he wasn’t “hired” by De Beers as he is not being paid for his role. The industry, just like Sierra Leone, is vulnerable to the negative effects of this film and are bracing themselves for a backlash – with the film’s PR in high speed it seems the only people to benefit from this movie is Hollywood.

See also

Nelson Mandela to Defend De Beers; Nelson Mandela to speak out for diamond industry

Jewelers sweat a 'Blood Diamond' holiday - CNN

Jewelers nervous about 'Blood Diamond' film - MSBNC

Blood Diamond; Movie Concerns Industry - DiamondRegistry.com

Diamond film 'could hurt Africa'- BBC

And for the countries trying to get back on track?

All of this brings me back to the movie – it is clear that the only real motive here is to cash in from the conflict and the issue of blood diamonds. As other forumites pointed out, maybe Hollywood are only in it for the money. It is not the first time this has been done with conflicts in African countries, Hotel Rwanda, Tears of the Sun, Black Hawk Down etc. However, even if it was a moral crusade, this film has the potential to cause even more harm to the people who have been affected by “Blood Diamonds”. Most are now trying to get there lives back together and working in legit diamond trade – what would happen to them if the industry was to go still?

Anyone who’s spent time on the forum will know that I’m not a big fan of diamonds but Sierra Leone, still trying to get back on track is heavily dependent on Diamonds as a major source of revenue and I don’t even want to think of the consequences of a dormant diamond industry! Besides the loss in revenue another big casualty of the war in Sierra Leone was its image. I believe that if we are to attract credible more foreign investors and tap into the country’s tourism potential then our negative image in the West must be tackled. Investors are driven by confidence and there have been some strides in this direction and I think this movie will set us back a few years. That would be a real shame. I hope there is a bit at the end which talks about life in some of these regions today. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Angola all have peace and are working hard to rejuvenate their economies and they deserve a chance to do so!

Think that’s about all I have to say on this issue for now, save to say that I do not think it is diamonds that should be boycotted, but rather Blood Diamond - the movie.