Styles & Scenes

US government builds "Blood Diamond" buzz

“Blood Diamond,” Ed Zwick's film about the illegitimate diamond trade in '90s war-torn Sierra Leone  - starring Oscar nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou and Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly – is getting more free publicity than Warner Bros could have dreamed of.

With the film not yet screened for press, the studio's PR department is sitting back and reveling in the daily flurry of diamond news and headlines building the buzz for "Blood," set for release December 15.

Now even the US Government is helping promote the film.

After reviewing the problem of conflict stones entering the U.S. market, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) has recommended that the diamond industry and the U.S. government do more to stop these illicit gems from entering the U.S. marketplace.

The GAO report, released last week, acknowledges that the legitimate trade of rough diamonds can help African economies, but it adds that rough diamonds - which fueled severe conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola during the 1990s  - remain a major cause for concern.

"Although many of these conflicts have now ended and the international community has taken steps to gain control of the rough diamond trade, the United Nations (UN) and other sources report that illicit trading of rough diamonds still exists and could potentially finance civil conflicts as well as criminal and terrorist activities," the GAO report states.

Even the Department of Homeland Security is getting into the act.

According to a Reuters report, the department released a response to the GAO report, pledging to work with the State Department to record detailed information about diamonds entering this country, as well as conducting periodic random examinations of diamond shipments.

Duh. About frigging time. Doesn't it seem like inspecting rough and/or polished diamond shipments will do more to stop global terrorist networks than banning lip gloss and hair gel on airplanes?

After the GAO report was issued, Global Witness, which has long reported that the diamond trade is still funding civil wars and that al-Qaida uses diamonds to fund their terrorist activities, released a joint statement with Partnership Africa Canada calling for the U.S. to take swift action on the report’s recommendations. It's worth noting that both organizations were nominated for a joint Nobel Peace Prize for their work to expose the “conflict diamond” trade.

In response to the GAO report, the World Diamond Council has promised to work with the U.S. to improve inspection of rough diamond imports and exports. No, really. They've promised.

But U.S. consumers should be forgiven if they find these promises hard to believe. Especially after reading the diamond industry's Web site - part of a new multi-million PR campaign -  insists the problem of “conflict stones” portrayed in “Blood Diamond” is ancient history - all fixed, nothing to worry about, end of story.

Meanwhile, a WB rep says "Blood" will be ready for press screenings in a few weeks. Then the real onslaught of awards buzz should begin.

Photo Credits: Leo and Djimon in an action scene from Warner Bros' prescient new film, "Blood Diamond," which, thanks to a just released U.S. government report, may be the easiest film to promote in recent Hollywood history.
Jaap Buitendijk / Warner Bros. Pictures

Will "Blood" kill diamonds at the Oscars?

Is the international diamond industry getting really, really, really nervous about the impact of "The Blood Diamond” on their Christmas and Valentine’s Day gem sales?

You bet. Almost three months before  the Warner Bros film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimoun Hounsou, is due for release (Dec. 15), the World Diamond Corporation has launched a major offensive campaign with a big ad in large newspapers (and on their website) explaining that the "conflict" or "blood diamond" problem has been solved.

The ads mention the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a plan put in place to certify a stone's origins, insuring that no conflict stones enter the marketplace. The KPCS is currently under review with results on the program's effectiveness due out this fall.

Why is the WDC trying to fend off criticism so early? Have they seen any film footage? No, according to studio sources.

But the diamond industry seems to be shaking in their bright shiny shoes, worried that consumers will believe that conflict diamonds are still being smuggled and sold. Or worse, that they will read about the stones being a viable currency funding international terrorist forces  such as Al Qaeda  and Hezbollah.

“If they want to educate the public, that’s great. The more information on conflict diamonds that gets out, the better,” says a source close to the film about the WDC's pro-active ads.  “Unfortunately, their ads do not tell the whole story, that, despite their attempts to police their industry, there are flaws and loopholes in the Kimberley Process.”

Amnesty International and Global Witness still warn of ongoing inadequacies in the diamond industry’s ability to curtail or control "blood diamond" sales.

Whatever happens to the diamond market, it will be interesting to see how A-list actresses will cope with questions about their bling in December, when "Blood Diamond," and other Oscar hopeful films, are released.

Here's a sampling: Did the jeweler who loaned you that million dollar necklace mention how many people had their hands hacked off for it? How do you feel knowing that your pretty ring could have funded Hezbollah? Or that those fabulous chandelier earrings may have bought arms for Osama?

May I suggest that any Oscar-hopefuls planning on wearing diamonds on the carpets have a prepared answer to these inevitable questions, along with the notes on who designed their gowns and made their shoes.

Otherwise, they'll risk looking stupid, vapid and uninformed. And that sure won't help an Oscar campaign, now will it?

Photo Credits: Thanks to "Blood Diamond," diamonds may not be as prevalent in the 2007 Awards Season. Even Teri Hatcher, selecting a ring at the Diamond Information Center's Pre-Oscar Suite at the Soho House last March, may think twice about bling.
Wire Image/Amy Graves

Mandela to defend De Beers from bad "Blood"

The international diamond industry must be getting pretty nervous about “The Blood Diamond.”

Word is that Sitrick and Company, Tinseltown’s top spinmeisters, have been hired by De Beers, the world's largest supplier of rough diamonds, to deflect the negative image of their industry portrayed in the upcoming film which stars Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio  (“The Aviator”), Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind”) and Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (“In America”).

“Diamond,” produced by Ed Zwick, will not be released until Jan 12, 2007. It’s the wrenching story of two South Africans, a mercenary (DiCaprio) and a fisherman (Hounsou) during the savage ‘90s Sierra Leone civil wars when rebels seized mines to sell “conflict” or “blood diamonds” to buy arms, murdering and mutilating (hand/arm amputation was a popular rebel sport) thousands of innocent men, women and children.

So guess who Sitrick plans to trot out to help stop the bad bling publicity? 

None other than South Africa’s activist and first post-apartheid president Nelson Mandela.

“Mandela is going to say that all that stuff seen in the film is in the past, that there are no more conflict diamonds in circulation and that the diamond industry is economically good for South Africa,” a smiling inside source revealed. “And who in their right mind is going to argue with Nelson Mandela?"

Who indeed.

But “Blood Diamond” will be one of those “important issue" awards season frontrunners. Diamonds used to fund wars and fuel massive slaughters is pretty nasty stuff. Imagine what this negative buzz could do to the bling quotient on the 2007 awards season red carpets.

The Academy/Globe consideration screenings in November may start the bad press that could hurt December diamond sales, not to mention Valentine's Day.

As far back as September 2005, De Beers’ honcho Jonathan Oppenheimer warned an industry convention that the movie was likely to attract a huge audience. "Can you imagine its impact on the Christmas-buying audience in America if the message is not carried through that this (conflict diamonds) is something of the past, that this is something that has been managed and taken care of?"

But it shouldn’t be a shock that Mandela would take the diamond dudes side. After De Beers chairman Harry Oppenheimer's death in 2000, Mandela recognized his support for democratic and philanthropic causes in a Time magazine obit, hailing him as "monumentally instrumental in helping our country become the economic leader it is today."

Gosh, who can argue with that?

Photo Credit: Nelson Mandela - seen at the 46664 HIV/AIDS Awareness Concert in 2005 - may show up in Hollywood to help De Beers fight any bad publicity due to "The Blood Diamond."
WireImage/Shayne Robinson