Chosan performs Blood Diamond from Bling is Dead
A few months ago some New York-based artists and arts organizations organized a concert to benefit Nah We Yone, a grassroots nonprofit organization that helps rebuild the shattered lives of refugees, asylees and asylum seekers from the African diaspora who have fled to the New York Metropolitan area due to ongoing political instability throughout the African continent. The title of the concert, “Bling & Blood”, set the tone for various African artists to voice their opinions about the effects of the blood diamond trade on the African continent. Here’s a video of Sierra Leonean hip-hop artist Chosan performing his song “Blood Diamond”, a song he penned as part of the Bling is Dead project. Thanks to director Dante Kaba for the footage.
Simmons, DiCaprio and Africa empowerment
The publicity bout over the image of diamonds continued throughout both Oscar and All-Star weekends with both Russell Simmons and Leonardo DiCaprio doing their part to promote awareness of their initiatives addressing blood diamonds. Simmons recently launched his Green Initiative jewelry line in Beverly Hills, California with celebrities such as Sanaa Lathan, Eva Pigford, Serena Williams, Paris Hilton, and Rosario Dawson. If you remember the Green Initiative is set up to raise money for “the development and empowerment of the people and communities in Africa where diamonds are a natural resource.” The initiative is part of the Diamond Empowerment Fund “a non-profit international organization” which Simmons announced at his press conference a few months ago. While Simmons has been busy courting celebrities such as Beyonce with the Green Bracelet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Ryan Gosling and others promoted the Amnesty International and Global Witness campaign against gem mining in troubled areas of the world by wearing a red teardrop pin to the Oscars. The pins were later auctioned off to benefit the campaign.
I’ve been following the developments of the blood diamonds campaigns closely and have been seeing a convergence of thoughts from both sides of the debate. Initially there were two separate camps that were bent on proving the other wrong in the public eye. But as the months – and the initial hype – have passed, I’ve seen both sides resolve to push strategies which though different on the surface, can have similar results: Giving Africans more control over their resources. DiCaprio, Hounsou, Amnesty International, and Global Witness are working outside of the current system to bring about the change in business practices, while Simmons is trying to work within the system to reach a fairly similar goal. While I see working within the current system as a dangerous strategy, I’m eager to see how Simmons walks the tightrope of getting an industry that is bent on maintaining it’s stronghold to purge itself of a practice that has worked so well. Maybe as Amnesty International’s campaign continues to put pressure on the diamond manufacturers, Simmons’ job will become easier. Time will tell which strategy is most effective.
Whitaker wins one for African film industry
By now you’ve all heard that Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. While this is another big boost for Black actors in general, it is more of a validation of African film. Before the awards I was speaking to my partner at the film commission about what the implications of a win like this will be. One thing he emphasized was how more African films will mean more roles for black actors. I think one thing that many people, especially Africans, overlook is the relationship between African-American progress and African progress. While we rarely expound on the connection, Whitaker’s win shows how African stories can provide unlimited opportunities for African-American actors and producers to create award-winning films. While many producers have looked primarily to South Africa and apartheid for strong African stories in the past, Whitaker’s win shows that there are more than enough stories to develop on the continent. That’s why Dreamgirls’ Danny Glover skipped the Oscars to attend the Pan African Film and Television Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Now that the word is out, the goal must be to encourage more African screenplays (preferably from Africans themselves) and get African stories told by African people. While I’m glad Warner Bros. made the effort to make Blood Diamond, I think the studios can now see the benefit of telling African stories from an African’s perspective using African/African-American talent. And while “The Last King of Scotland” wasn’t a blockbuster at the theaters, at this point we see there is a large enough audience interested in seeing a African film that is given the budget both independent and blockbuster Western movies enjoy.
Update: The BBC reports about African reactions to the Oscars at the Fespaco film festival in Burkina Faso.
Bling & Blood go primetime on Vh1
I mentioned before that Vh1 in conjunction with the United Nations was producing a documentary on the bling and blood diamonds relationship. The documentary, “Bling’d: Blood, Diamonds, and Hip Hop”, “takes a look at the illegal diamond trade in Sierra Leone, West Africa and its connection with the hip hop culture, particularly how ‘bling’ played a role in the nation’s 11-year civil war.” While we’ve seen quite a few film projects about blood diamonds and Sierra Leone, it’s a wonder that the hip-hop angle has never really been explored in depth by a major film/television company; or did I just miss it? Either way the documentary features interviews with Paul Wall, Raekwon, Tego Caldron, Jadakiss, Big Daddy Kane, and Kanye West among others. Hopefully the documentary will expand beyond the war in Sierra Leone and show how the diamond trade exploits both the Africans who mine the diamonds and the African-Americans who aspire to own one. As Sierra Leonean rapper Chosan said “Don’t give up and keep shining, your heart’s worth more than a diamond”. The documentary premieres Thursday, Feb. 22. at 8pm on Vh1.
2007 Academy Awards African nominees
The nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards were released this morning, and I’m elated to see African film is carrying on it’s influence from the Golden Globes to the Oscars. I’m even more excited to see that Djimon Hounsou was nominated for his role as the Sierra Leonean fisherman in “Blood Diamond”. Yet another milestone for the African film industry. The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. For the full list of nominees go here
Note: * Indicates actor with African heritage or film where Africa is central character
Best Motion Picture of the Year
* Babel (2006): Alejandro González Iñárritu, Steve Golin, Jon Kilik
The Departed (2006): Nominees to be determined
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006): Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Robert Lorenz
Little Miss Sunshine (2006): Nominees to be determined
The Queen (2006): Andy Harries, Christine Langan, Tracey Seaward
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
* Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond (2006)
* Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson (2006)
Peter O’Toole for Venus (2006/I)
Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
* Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond (2006)
Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children (2006)
Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls (2006)
Mark Wahlberg for The Departed (2006)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
* Rinko Kikuchi for Babel (2006)
* Adriana Barraza for Babel (2006)
Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006)
Best Achievement in Directing
* Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel (2006)
Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Stephen Frears for The Queen (2006)
Paul Greengrass for United 93 (2006)
Martin Scorsese for The Departed (2006)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
* Babel (2006): Guillermo Arriaga
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006): Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis
Little Miss Sunshine (2006): Michael Arndt
Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006): Guillermo del Toro
The Queen (2006): Peter Morgan
Best Achievement in Editing
* Babel (2006): Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
* Blood Diamond (2006): Steven Rosenblum
Children of Men (2006): Alfonso Cuarón, Alex RodrÃguez
The Departed (2006): Thelma Schoonmaker
United 93 (2006): Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson, Christopher Rouse
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
* Babel (2006): Gustavo Santaolalla
The Good German (2006): Thomas Newman
Notes on a Scandal (2006): Philip Glass
Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006): Javier Navarrete
The Queen (2006): Alexandre Desplat
Best Achievement in Sound
* Blood Diamond (2006): Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Ivan Sharrock
Apocalypto (2006): Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Fernando Cámara
Dreamgirls (2006): Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, Willie D. Burton
Flags of Our Fathers (2006): John T. Reitz, David E. Campbell, Gregg Rudloff, Walt Martin
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006): Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes, Lee Orloff
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
* Blood Diamond (2006): Lon Bender
Apocalypto (2006): Sean McCormack, Kami Asgar
Flags of Our Fathers (2006): Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006): Alan Robert Murray
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006): George Watters II, Christopher Boyes
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
* Indigènes (2006)(Algeria)
Efter brylluppet (2006)(Denmark)
Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006)(Mexico)
Leben der Anderen, Das (2006)(Germany)
Water (2005)(Canada)
Best Short Film, Live Action
* Binta y la gran idea (2004): Javier Fesser, Luis Manso
Éramos pocos (2005): Borja Cobeaga
Helmer & søn (2006): Søren Pilmark, Kim Magnusson
Helmer & søn (2006): Søren Pilmark, Kim Magnusson
The Saviour (2005): Peter Templeman, Stuart Parkyn
West Bank Story (2005): Ari Sandel
LA Times: Hollywood’s dark approach to African films
The LA Times has an insightful op-ed piece written by Joe Queenan a writer who has written for Barron’s, the New York Times Book Review and London’s the Guardian. The piece titled “Tarzan’s children: Why movies about Africa require white saviors” sheds some light on what Joe calls the “Just Let Bwana Do It!” series of Hollywood films which include “the Constant Gardner” and “The Interpreter”. Mr. Queenan echoes some recent criticism of the movie “Blood Diamond” about the movie’s focus on the Leonardo DiCaprio character instead of Djimon Hounsou’s character, who the story revolves around. Queenan also brings up some points about how some Africans see the West’s influence on their communities.
This week in African style, 1/6 – 1/12/07
• Will Smith plans to move to South Africa:
• Wesley Snipes wants more Africans making films
• Chris Rock vows to help Kenyans
• Yale puts African art on a pedastel
• DiCaprio adopts a South African girl. Thats one way to open the door to immigrants
• George Clooney advocates for Darfur with film
• Adoption groups criticize Angelina Jolie who criticized Madonna who thinks EVERYONE should adopt an African baby.
• Vh1 gets Bling’d for the United Nation on February 22
Starbucks spotlights child soldiers
Starbucks is making a second book selection this February. On Feb. 15, Starbucks will be selling “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,†by first-time writer and Sierra Leone native Ishmael Beah. Amazon says:
“In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now in his mid-twenties, tells how, at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels in his homeland of Sierra Leone and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.”
Beah, now 26, fled Sierra Leone in 1997 and a year later emigrated to the United States. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 and now lives in New York. “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,†will be published in mid-February by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and will be backed by an author tour at Starbucks stores in 10 cities. Starbucks will donate $2 to UNICEF from each sale of the $22 book, with a minimum donation of $100,000.
Starbucks selection and efforts should help to offset some of the criticism it’s been getting about it’s treatment of Ethiopian coffee bean farmers.
Zimbabwe failing diamond test
On the conflict diamond front, it’s Zimbabwe who has now come under fire for it’s conflict diamond policies. Reports are surfacing that the African country is among a growing number who has not met the standards of the World Diamond Council’s Kimberley Process initiative. It’s funny to see how the council is suddenly cracking down on countries who aren’t complying with their rules. Some would say it’s following through with it’s 2006 statement of cleaning itself up, while others say it’s just a knee-jerk reaction to all the heat they’re getting. Whatever the reason, it’s a good sign I guess. Now we just need to get some independent parties in on the governing. Especially since diamond sales are gaining ground online.
Side note: Djimon Housou’s role as the fisherman in Blood Diamond is earning him some good recognition. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the Academy Awards.