- Title: SIERRA LEONE: Hollywood film 'Blood Diamond' screened in Freetown
- Date: 11th May 2007
- Summary: VARIOUS OF MOVIE ON SCREEN VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING THE FILM
- Embargoed: 26th May 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Sierra Leone
- Country: Sierra Leone
- Reuters ID: LVAEVQ9XZSOQNANFPQQ0RUWD1MLE
- Story Text: A series of screenings of the film 'Blood Diamond' have begun in Sierra Leone. The film is set against the backdrop of the chaos and civil war that enveloped Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
The Hollywood movie "Blood Diamond" was screened for the first time in Sierra Leone on Tuesday evening (May 8). The film is mostly set in Sierra Leone where civil conflict, spurred by the sale of diamonds, raged for more than a decade and killed tens of thousands.
The United Nations World Food Programme and Warners Bros teamed up to offer free screenings of the movie to people in the capital Freetown.
The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Benin's Djimon Hounsou and centres around the illegal industry built around "blood diamonds" which have been used to finance rebel groups around the continent.
Sierra Leone's rebel RUF fighters, who are also depicted in the film, were particularly notorious for brutally hacking of the limbs of civilians.
"Well actually I believe it's a movie that captured what happened for those of us who were in Sierra Leone to sit back and look at how it was. It's really horrific, its gives us another signal. It tells us that there are people who have sacrificed their lives," said Kamanda Bongay, shortly after watching the film.
Other watchers were critical of the fact that none of the scenes were actually shot in Sierra Leone.
"As far as am concerned if really they wanted the movie to hit the market and to be appreciated by Sierra Leoneans in particular they could have shot the film in Sierra Leone, that's one, and they could have had our characters, because some of the scenes show that it is something done in South Africa or else I don't know, so I felt bad with some of the scenes that were shot in the film," said Dwarty Koroma, who also lives in Freetown.
But, the people who had the chance to watch the movie make up a very small percentage of the millions of Sierra Leoneans that were affected by the civil war. The majority of them do not live in Freetown and may never have the chance to either watch or analyse the film. The movie broke away from traditional accounts of the country's civil conflict by also focusing on the involvement of international stakeholders in the illicit diamond trade.
"Generally it's good like I said for those of us that were fortunate to watch the movie it send a message across. It tells us the impact of the war and what people got out of it, but I think generally it's also good for the other people on the other side to also view the movie and see what lessons for them to learn," said Amostina Dean, another Freetown resident.
The Kimberly Process, an organisation set up by the diamond industry expressly to police trade in the gems is credited with greatly reducing illegal trade. International watchdog Amnesty International has warned that diamonds mined in rebel-held areas of West Africa's Ivory Coast were still finding their way to the market.
Africa accounts for about 75 percent of global diamond production. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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