This event has ended!

View current events hosted by PocketPictures

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes + TBA (Q&A with Peter Conteh)

Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 7:30 PM (GMT)

London, Greater London

Ticket Information

Ticket Type Sales End Price Fee Quantity
Standard Ended £5.00 £0.00
Concession Ended £4.00 £0.00

Event Details

Directors notes: For me the contrast between the perception of diamonds as a girl's best friend, the ultimate gift of undying love; and the reality of the diamond pipeline: stones extracted from the dirt, diggers paid in cups of rice, served as an initial stimulus for this project. On a more personal level, as a born Sierra Leonean, the recent end of the country's civil war, afforded me the opportunity to travel to the diamondiferous areas where the conflict had been concentrated. The ten years of civil war were primarily a struggle between rebel forces, loosely organised under the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and those loyal to the government. The RUF funded their campaign by seizing control of the diamond-producing districts of Kono and Tongo fields; thus linking any investigation into the gem trade in Sierra Leone to the recently halted conflict. I was curious to discover the exact role of diamonds in the civil war, how the gems were mined, who was buying the illicitly mined 'blood diamonds,' and how they were smuggled from Sierra Leone into the global market. I see the resulting film as an anthropologically-informed current affairs program. Revealing the murky world of the diamond pipeline in Sierra Leone, 'Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes' focuses on how gems are mined, sold and exported from a country where they are mined in appalling conditions. During the recent civil war armed-militia forced people to dig for diamonds using guns paid for with the very stones they were killed mining for. In the diamond mines of Koidu, north-eastern Sierra Leone, involvement in diamond mining is a way of life for many; children and adults labour long hours digging, 'tripping' and sifting through muddy gravel. Conditions are hard but not unusual in this impoverished part of the world; exploitation and child labour are a way of life, but dreams of sudden wealth inure people to the daily hardship. Gems mined here are bought and sold by dealers in Bo, Kenema and Freetown before being smuggled and sold into the international diamond pipeline. Meeting with and filming strong characters, contacts and fixers already established brings this story to life. From Ali Fofanah working in terrible conditions for a pittance in alluvial mines around Koidu, to dealers such as Idris a diamond 'exporter' plying his trade in Sierra Leone. Over the course of two months I intimately followed and filmed these characters, learning about the lives of diggers and gem-dealers. This experience of in-depth research and my heritage meant I had intimate access to the diamond-trade and the cultures surrounding it in Sierra Leone; 'Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes' reveals an unseen side to the global trade in diamonds, documenting the everyday lives of diggers, dealers and exporters. Director: Peter Conteh Producer: Peter Conteh Production Company: Country: UK Year of Production: 2006 Running time: 30 mins