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As a kid, it’s easy to imagine how diamonds are mined. The image of a stout prospector pickaxing a rock wall in an enchanted, dark and glimmering cave seems like a fair portrayal for a child, but the reality of it is far less romantic.
Taking us on a transcontinental journey is the film Diamond Road, which screens next week at Cinema Politica. It’s a story that’s told in earnest by a pastiche of people who have a hand in the diamond trade. As you can imagine, life gets better for those involved as you move further from the source of the diamond towards the consumer.
Producer Robert Lang got the idea for the documentary years ago when his mother passed away. He was going through her things when he came across an old-looking diamond folded into a piece of paper. Where did it come from? What kind of cut was used and what was its value? “Producing this film was my response to the questions I had about that little diamond years ago. I discovered way more than I could have ever imagined. A world of intrigue and passion, greed and deception, love and conflict,” Lang said.
A diamond’s journey is truly captivating, and the film does an excellent job of bringing us into this secretive world. The story pace can feel slow at times, but keeping us smitten are plenty of shots of shiny gems and well-scripted narration.
“We try to answer the overriding question in the film, what is a diamond really worth?” said Lang. “And the answer comes back through the people in the film that it all depends on where you are on the diamond pipeline.”
The film starts in Sierra Leone, where many of the world’s diamonds are “teased” out from muddy African pits by hundreds of thousands of impoverished workers. One dollar a day plus commission for “finds” is all they get; diamonds have brought this country more misery than joy. During the Sierra Leone Civil War from 1996 to 1999, diamonds were used to finance the insurgency and workers were exploited to a terrifying degree. Although the war is over, the exploitation continues in Sierra Leone.
From here, the film heads to Surat, India, where most of the world’s diamonds are cut. Manoj, a thirteen-year-old boy from the country has come to learn the trade, and plans on sending his earnings back to his family to pay for his siblings’ education. “As the oldest, this is my duty,” he says.
The film then introduces us to an array of international locations, most notably New York and Antwerp, where the stones, which finally have taken a gem-like shape, are put up for bidding.
Tying together many of these locations is one man who’s taken it upon himself to stand up for those being exploited. Martin Rapaport is an outspoken man of modest stature and even more modest support who lobbies the kings of the diamond world to demand fair trade gems from their suppliers. It’s a hard sell. People who make lucrative profits don’t want their methods questioned, and the whole business seems sensitive to criticism.
“Anyone considering buying a diamond of whatever kind should ask first and foremost for a certified document of origin,” said Lang. “This might not be a guarantee, since questionable diamonds can find their way into the ‘clean’ diamond trade, but it keeps the diamond merchants on their toes and lets them know that there is a serious demand for accountability.”
The film does a good job surveying the history of diamonds as a traditionally Jewish commodity, as well as examining the allure of their marketing campaigns, and the promise of eternity in their subtext.
The film isn’t shocking, ground-breaking or muckraking in any way. This award-winning documentary won’t urge you to throw away your diamonds, so if you love the gem you won’t be damned for it. Anybody who sees this will certainly be better versed in what the diamond truly means, and have a better feel for the rough side of the stone.
Diamond Road screens at 7:30pm in H-110 on Monday, Feb. 8 as part of Cinema Politica. It’s free.
Hard facts on the diamond industry:
26 metric tonnes of diamonds extracted every year make for a nine billion dollar business.
Roughly 49 per cent of these diamonds originate from Central and South
Africa.
80 per cent of uncut and 50 per cent of cut diamonds end up in Antwerp, Belgium, where a small number of significant players control their distribution.
History:
For centuries, diamond trade was one of the few businesses Jewish people could practice.
In the past, Antwerp has been friendlier to the Jewish community and free enterprise than to the rest of Europe.
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