...Leone lived through this reality from the later eighties through the early twenty first century. The film Blood Diamond is based on this politically volatile era in the history of Sierra Leone. Three places are of prominent importance in the film. In these places life changing decisions and choices are made. The significance of these palaces drives the characters to defy common human behavior, put their lives in extreme danger and seemingly achieve the impossible. Of great importance is a mining valley in the countryside which is a stronghold of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel insurgency seeking to oust the current government. The government remains in control of the capital city of Freetown. A third significant place is the a United Nations meeting hall where the United States and other powerful Western countries make life altering decisions regarding the state of Sierra Leone. Despite the stark differences in the characteristics of these places, there’s one element that is present in all three – corruption. Greed and personal interest is the uniting factor in the three significant places in the film. So rampant is this self-interest attitude that it takes a reality of its own as TIA, short for “This is Africa.” Here, no one can be trusted and everyone strives for himself. On the RUF controlled mine field, enslaved men sift through muddy valleys for diamonds at gunpoint. With child soldiers holding rifles ready to shoot, any sign of theft or inability is punishable...
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...The makers of “Blood Diamond,” an exceptionally thriller starring a most excellent Leonardo DiCaprio, want you to know there may be blood on your hands, specifically your wedding finger. The story involves so-called conflict diamonds, illicitly mined stones that have been used to finance some of the most vicious wars in Africa. If films were judged solely by their good intentions, this one would be best in show. Instead, gilded in money and dripping with sanctimony, confused and mindlessly contradictory, the film is a textbook example of how easily commercialism can trump do-goodism, particularly in Hollywood. The 2006 movie (Blood Diamond) was recently seen by me, this is an American political war thriller film produced and directed by Edward Zwick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world. During Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996–2001, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebels. It also portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels' amputation of people's hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections. The film's ending, in which a conference is held concerning blood diamonds, is in reference to an actual meeting that took place in Kimberley, South Africa in 2000 and led to the Kimberley Process...
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...ENGL 1157 05/05/2013 Blood Diamond I think, Blood Diamond could have been little shorter. While the film includes a number of political and sociological insights, the story is tepid and loses momentum as the storyline bogs down. The main character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, has an effective arc that is believable because it does not force him to act contrary to his nature, but it takes a long time for Blood Diamond to get us to DiCaprio's moment of recognition. Pacing issues aside, this is a well constructed movie and clearly the product of a director who understands how to make a top-notch motion picture. It looks great and sounds great. If only Edward Zwick's mastery of the medium had extended to pruning the screenplay and editing the final result, Blood Diamond might have been a great film rather than one worthy of only a lukewarm recommendation. The story takes place in 1999 Sierra Leone, when the country is embroiled in a civil war. In this case, it's hard to determine which side is worse: the government or the rebels. As is often the case in this sort of bloodbath, atrocities abound and it's the innocent farmers and villagers caught in between who pay the price. Diamonds, one of the country's largest exportable commodities, are being smuggled out and purchased on the open market despite a supposed international ban on the purchase of so-called "conflict diamonds" or "blood diamonds." This historical background is accurate, although the three primary characters...
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...May 4, 2010 How do conflict diamonds fuel the conflict in regions they come from? From my impression of the films Blood Diamond and Lord of War, the illegal act of trading arms for diamonds seems like business as usual. It’s not until you look at, where the diamonds come from, how they are mined and who controls/owns the gems, that you begin to understand why these precious stones are called “Blood Diamonds”. Most diamonds on the market come from expensive mining operations run by large corporations, who drill into large bodies of volcanic rock containing diamond deposits, known as kimberlites. Sources like these are not easily accessible to anyone and in the case of Africa, “conflict diamonds come primarily from places where rivers have washed over kimberlites and spread their wealth down river in thick deposits of mud and gravel”. (stemming the flow) In west Africa, there are many well known regions which contain some of the world’s largest diamond deposits. INTRODUCTION The link between diamonds and armed conflict in Sierra Leone is obvious, and has been exposed, investigated, and deplored by humanitarians, journalists, politicians, and diamond industry leaders. Less obvious are the complex, entrenched relationships between exploitative systems of financial intermediation and resource management, poverty, and the spectacular, mysterious wealth of the diamond trade. Diamonds have facilitated, not caused, and armed conflict. Pre-war economic and social injustice...
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...in the movie Blood diamond. Edward Zwick displays the complete transformation of Archer over the course of the movie, from a greedy anti-hero to a selfless hero who puts others before himself. Archer’s epiphany starts after meeting Solomon Vandy in prison, the local fisherman who found the rare pink diamond. Another person that play a huge role in determining the identity of Archer is Maddy Bowen, the reporter from New York. I will be discussing the specific scenes in which I think Archer starts his transformation into becoming a better person (IMDb.com). Solomon is captured and forced to work in an RUF diamond mine. Soon after, his elementary-school-aged son is also captured. Later he is shown at an RUF camp, being taught with a group of children his age to forget their families, pledge absolute loyalty to the RUF, fire weapons, and to kill without shame. At the mine, Solomon discovers a remarkably large and valuable pink diamond and buries it for safekeeping. The Sierra Leone army launches a deadly air strike against the rebels and the survivors, including Solomon, are arrested and brought to a jail in the capital. Because of a diamond-smuggling deal gone wrong, Danny Archer ends up in the same jail and learns about Solomon's pink diamond. He arranges for Solomon's release, hoping to get the diamond for himself in return for helping Solomon to find his family. Archer then tracks down Maddy Bowen, an American journalist looking to do a story on blood diamonds, and promises...
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...depicts the adverse effect of diamonds on the people of Africa. It also addresses the real price of diamonds which it believes to be the lives of millions of Africans. Additionally, it examines the response from the United Nations and question if enough is being done to crack done on the sale of blood diamonds. The famous phrase “Diamonds are Forever” is known to most people all over the world. What most people do not know is where most of these diamonds are coming from and how they came to become perfect gestures of love and romance. Looking at a clear cut diamond ring, it is hard to imagine the possibility of thousands of innocent people being murdered, tortured, and forced to mine for these stones; unfortunately that is the case in Africa. Diamonds in West Africa have been used for the last 30 years to fund rebel groups and their desire to take control of their nations by violence and intimidation. In such conflicted regions of the world, diamonds lose their connotation of beauty and elegance and are stained with blood. In this paper, I will discuss the many ways in which “conflict diamond” has brought nothing but poverty, suffering and war to the West African people. I will further explain what world organizations such as the United Nation have done in order to counteract the adverse effects of the conflict diamond on the African community, and the extent to which such efforts have been successful. Conflict diamonds are diamonds illegally traded to fund conflict...
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...The documentary, Blood Diamonds – The True Story, that I just watched broke my delicate heart. I pity all the victims of the heartless act done by the rebel groups, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). I just cannot imagine how many innocent lives perished for the sake of funding civil wars in Central and Western Africa. In addition, I felt guilt within me for patronizing diamonds without knowing the real price and deeper reality behind these precious stones. Without any doubt, the film was very effective in achieving its purpose and intention through the techniques that was used. In fact, it presented firsthand accounts of the survivors and the culprits of the African diamond-funded wars, including testimonies from industry experts and journalists. Moreover, it shows actual footages of rebel groups attacking the diamond areas. With these, the viewers are now aware of the deeper reality that these diamonds has caused violence, slavery and killing of millions of people. Definitely, the film changed my perspective about diamonds. I realized that behind the shining and shimmering beauty of these valuable gems are bloodsheds among many people in Africa. Furthermore, I realized that not all that glitters are considered to be treasures. This just proves that awareness is very important. In patronizing products, one should first be knowledgeable on how these products came into existence. Finally, if I were given...
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...business, the diamond industry has taken pains to evade questions about its connections with Israel’s human rights abuses — and so far has escaped scrutiny from watchdog organizations. Representatives for 75 countries affiliated to the United Nations-based Kimberley Process Certification Scheme meeting in Kinshasa this week failed to reach agreement on the export of blood-stained diamonds from Zimbabwe. The elephant in the room was Israel’s burgeoning diamond exports which evade the human rights strictures imposed on Zimbabwe’s diamond exports. A “letter of the month” that I authored and which was published in the April edition of Retail Jeweller magazine exposes these double standards in the Kimberley Process regulations that facilitate the trade in blood-stained diamonds from Israel and Zimbabwe (Letters, Retail Jeweller Magazine, April 2011). The letter caused “consternation” to some in the diamond industry and resulted in the withdrawal of the magazine from a major jewellery trade fair in Switzerland (“Gems editor sorry for ‘blood diamond’ boycott letter,” The Jewish Chronicle, 7 April 2011). The letter drew the wrath of vested interests and leaders of the Israeli diamond industry. Their response via the Letters page in the May edition of the magazine demonstrated the sensitivity of the global diamond industry to any exposure of the links between Israeli diamonds and Israeli war crimes. Three letters, signed by six prominent members of the global diamond industry...
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...Ethical movie review Title: Blood Diamond Year: 2006 Studio: Virtual Studios Producer: Warner Bros. Director: Edward Zwick Country: United States of America 0.1 Introduction The following essay will examine ethical issues addressed through the movie “Blood Diamond”. The two main issues identified and discussed are; child soldiers and conflict diamonds. My main lens of ethical theories will consist of the four western theories, this includes, egoism, utilitarianism, ethics of duties and ethics of rights. Even though these theories are based on ethical absolutism, I will still try to apply a pluralistic view. Additionally, some of these theories will be expanded and other theories that do not tend so much towards ethical absolutism will be added. The following section will concentrate more on how these issues occurred and try to give some potential answer to the problems. In order to do so descriptive ethical theories will be tools in the examination. Finally the conclusion will be presented by a combination of a film review and a short summary of the findings in the text. 1.1 Children with guns The first of the two ethical issues that will be examined is the use of kids as soldiers. In order to do so I believe I have to take a subjective role on the subject, looking from a rebel soldier. The reasons for this is because I believe objective or western views on this topic will in the end state that this is neither moral or ethical. In order to get a more interesting...
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...How does the diamond industry promote responsible trading practices? To promote the trading of diamonds from legitimate sources and to ensure that consumers can be confident in their diamond jewellery purchases, governments, NGOs and the international diamond industry have worked together to implement a ‘certificate of origin’ system, known as the Kimberley Process: The Kimberley Process is a certification system that prevents diamonds from an area of conflict entering the legitimate diamond supply chain. The Kimberley Process ensures that only rough diamonds accompanied by a government-issued certificate can be imported and exported, providing an assurance that the diamonds are from conflict free sources. Under this United Nations mandated system, only countries that are part of the Kimberley Process can import or export rough diamonds. Today, 74 countries are members of the Kimberley Process, ensuring that more than 99% of diamonds are from conflict free sources. Anyone who imports or exports rough diamonds between these countries without a Kimberley Process certificate is breaking the law. In addition to the Kimberley Process, the System of Warranties was developed by the World Diamond Council (WDC) to extend the Kimberley Process conflict free assurance to polished diamonds and provide a means by which consumers can be assured their diamonds are from conflict free sources. Its principal element is a declaration on the invoice accompanying every transaction (apart from the...
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...«BLOOD DIAMOND» - Film review. Blood Diamond is an Oscar-nominated political war thriller movie from 2006 directed by Edward Zwick. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Kagiso Kuypers and Stephen Collins. The movie is set during the Sierra Leone Civil War, from 1996 to 2001. We get introduced to the main characters, Danny Archer and Solomon Vandy, both living in Sierra Leone. Solomon gets kidnapped by the RUF (Revolutionary United Front). He got separated from his family, and his son got kidnapped too, and turned into a child-soldier. Solomon got sent to work as a slave in the diamond mines. If the slaves found any diamonds, the RUF would use the diamonds to buy military weapons. One day Solomon found a big shiny diamond, and he tried to hide it, but one of the RUF-soldiers caught him hiding it and Solomon got arrested, but the diamond stayed hidden. Behind bars, Solomon met Danny Archer, who had been arrested for diamond-smuggling. Danny found out about Solomon’s hidden diamond, and he offers to help Solomon finding his family in-trade for the diamond. Finding the diamond, and getting Solomon’s family back is the main-conflict in the movie. Throughout the movie we follow the main characters, Solomon and Danny. Salomon is introduced as a normal and happy family-father with a normal life. This changes when he gets kidnapped by the RUF. Salomon gets more and more angry and unstable during his time away from his family. He wants the best for...
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... The movie “Blood Diamond” is directed by Edward Zwick. This movie is considered as one of the great movies because the diamonds mined at Africa are traded in exchange for firearms and other weapons which are used in civil wars, coups and cruel military dictatorships, and what makes the story interesting is that, which side is worse? Is it the government or the rebels? So the first thing we see in this story if we will relate it to economic situation is that, people face tradeoffs. RUFs mine diamonds and sell to those people who will give them firearms in exchange for diamonds. Back to the story, this story takes place in 1999 in Sierra Leone, which during that time, is at civil war. The story stars Leonardo DiCapprio, played the role as Danny Archer, who is a diamond smuggler who needs money to leave Africa for good. There, he meets Solomon Vandy. His life changed when the Revolutionary United Front or RUF invaded their village, killed many people, and kidnapped most children and men. His family escaped, and he is sent to the forced labor camp to mine diamond. During that time, diamonds have really high value because they are traded for arms and is sold for a very high price. When Solomon is sifting sand on a river bank, he saw a 100 karat pink diamond which he initially hides then later buries. No less than a minute, it happened that there was government raid, he captured and he was sent in jail. There he meets Danny, who made deal with him. For diamond: Danny will help...
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...VCE English Unit 1 & 2 Holiday Homework Over the summer break you will be expected to complete the following tasks: • Become familiar with the Year 11 English course outline • Read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and answer the activities attached • Find the key words in your text and begin a glossary Your English teacher will collect this homework in Week One of Term One, 2014. All the best!! Failure to complete the required reading and activities will mean that you will be unprepared to begin the year and giving up time to complete the work afterschool. YEAR 11 ENGLISH UNIT 1 & 2 OUTLINE 2014 UNIT 1 Reading & Responding – Outcome 1 The Kite Runner - Text response essay (800 – 1000 words). Creating & Presenting – Outcome 2 Visual Text ‘Redfern Now’ - One written piece in an imaginative, persuasive or expository style (600 - 800 words) related to the context of Identity and Belonging + 2 hurdle tasks exploring imaginative, persuasive or expository styles. Language Analysis – Outcome 3 You will focus on the use of persuasive language techniques written articles and visual images. You will then produce a language and visual analysis essay. (600 – 800 words) Exam: Reading and Responding and Language Analysis - 2hrs 15mins • A reading and responding essay for The Kite Runner • A language and visual analysis essay on the issue studied in class UNIT 2 Reading & Responding – Outcome 1 The Crucible - Text response essay (800 – 1000 words)...
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...Beers and the Conflict Diamonds De Beers is the most recognizable name in the diamond industry and since it was established in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes; the company have been linked to the “blood diamond” trade because for a long time they had the control of supply and demand of the diamond industry. De beers dominated the diamond market for the best part of the 20th century, but the creation of synthetic diamonds and the discovery of new diamond deposits in other countries have created new challenges and De Beers have been obligated to deviate from their traditional ways of doing business. Q1. The diamond industry is exclusive in comparison to other industries because of the nature of their product. Diamonds are unique and the competitive rivalry is limited to only a few producers. The diamond industry has been able to create a high demand of their product because they have the ability to control the supply. Other industries such as electronics and technology face stiff competition and do not have the ability to control the market as the diamond industry does. Industries other than the diamond industries offer a great deal of alternatives for their services and products, but when it comes to the diamond industry; the alternatives are somewhat limited. While other industries struggle to stay afloat; the diamond industry continues to grow and presents an attractive opportunity for investors. Q2. I believe that anyone or any company that purchase conflict diamond has no regards for...
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...as new sources of competition and suspicion about conflict diamonds, Gareth Penny had to rethink the basics A diamond may be forever, as De Beers' famous advertising slogan contends, but is the same true of a business model? That was the question facing Gareth Penny, managing director of De Beers, in the late 19'90s, when the famed diamond cartel found itself beset by a series of events that ultimately forced it to examine and then retool its business strategy. Since the company was founded in 1888, De Beers followed a strategy of supply control. In addition to mining its own diamonds, it bought diamonds from other producers and had what it called the "central selling organization," controlling some 90% of the world's diamonds. Its tight control over such a vast amount of supply enabled De Beers to keep prices high for a commodity that is neither particularly scarce nor useful. If a competitor offered diamonds on the market outside of De Beers' central selling organization, De Beers would simply flood the market with similar stones, thus eliminating any pricing power the competitor might offer. By the end of the 1990s, the business model of controlling supply and managing how much of its inventory went to market at any time was no longer effective: New sources of diamonds were discovered in sufficient quantity that they could be sold competitively outside of De Beers' central selling organization. Demand for diamonds was dropping at a time when demand for other luxury goods...
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