Hollywood braces for "Blood Diamond" War
Get ready for the big "Blood Diamond " PR War between Team De Beers and Team Zwick.
Nelson Mandela will act as a spokesman for the international diamond cartel to defuse any negative publicity caused by Ed Zwick's new film "The Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimoun Hounsou, due out in December.
The film, a fictional tale, is set during the all-too-real '90s decade of African civil wars when rebel armies seized control of diamond mines, traded conflict diamonds for arms and murdered, raped and mutilated thousands of innocent people.
The film's barely finished shooting but the World Diamond Council has already asked Zwick, the film's producer/co-writer/director to add a disclaimer at the end that puts the nasty rough diamond trade in the past and the current industry in a better light.
Honest, those creepy rebels with nasty amputation habits are gone. Today's mining conditions are way improved and diamonds are now carefully documented thanks to the Kimberly Process, a voluntary industry agreement made in 2000, which tracks and certifies the movement of rough diamonds.
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International don't buy it. But if you do, I've got some great New Orleans property near some lovely new levees you might also like. Zwick's response? He gave it to E! Online yesterday.
A bitter battle is clearly brewing. But how will Team De Beers, headed by Mandela, do against Team Zwick? Let's compare the players. Ready for their turn at bat are the "Blood" actors, all politically active and involved with a variety of humanitarian causes.
DiCaprio is outspoken about ecology and global warming issues. His website was redesigned and launched in 2004, the same year he joined the boards of NRDC and Global Green USA. Hounsou was born in Benin, near Niger. He participated in Amnesty International's Live for Darfur concert series last fall. It's safe to say that he has strong opinions on the illicit diamond trade's impact on Africa peoples. And Jennifer Connelly was just named Amnesty International USA's (AIUSA) Ambassador for Human Rights Education last winter.
But Zwick may also have a trump card, an actress who could give his team an unbeatable hand....
Zwick directed Brad Pitt in "Legends of the Fall." And Pitt is now Super Glued to (and might as well be married to) (ta-dah!) Angelina Jolie - a tireless Mother Teresa-like human rights activist and respected United Nations rep who has visited refugee camps all over Africa and has seen firsthand the impact of the conflict diamond trade on African people. Her compelling book "Notes From My Travels" documents her visits to refugee camps in the Congo and Sierra Leone.
Don't forget that Brad and Angelina also hung out in Namibia for the birth of their first child where they could have been briefed by the Namibian government on De Beers consumption of - and price control of - Namibian diamonds.
Zwick also produced "Shakespeare in Love" so maybe we should toss in politically active Ben Affleck, who had a small role in the Oscar-winning film. Zwick also produced "Traffic," directed/co-produced by Steven Soderbergh, who is good buds with all those cool outspoken liberal activist "Oceans" dudes, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Pitt. Damon even starred with Jolie in the upcoming film, "The Good Shepherd" so they've already got "I've got your back" team spirit.
With me so far?
Soderbergh could be on Team Zwick too. He's tight with Clooney, having directing him in oh, just a few films including "Solaris," "Out of Sight" and the upcoming "Michael Clayton." He also produced Clooney's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," "Syriana" and "Good Night, and Good Luck."
The latter were two of the most successful controversy films of the 2006 Awards Season. Coincidentally, WB produced and distributed Clooney's "Syriana" which got an original screenplay Oscar nod for Stephen Gaghan and a best supporting Oscar for Clooney. Clooney's love child, "Good Night, and Good Luck," was produced/distributed by Warner Independent and got six Oscar nominations.
So let's review. Nelson Mandela has to play hardball against Warner Bros' crack PR team, Ed Zwick, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou, Steven Soderbergh and maybe Ben Affleck?
Good luck, Nelson.
Photo Credit: Will Angelina Jolie speak out about the still suffering victims of Africa's rough diamond trade portrayed in "The Blood Diamond?" What do you think?
WireImage/Jamie McCarthy
This is the silliest and most pathetic thing I ever read. Nelson Mandela has to go up against such moral heavyweights as Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck ... Yeah, I think he can hold his own ....
The fact that anyone in Hollywood could suggest a bunch of celebrity activitsts may trump one of the towering figures of the 20th century shows people in Hollywood have truly lost all perspective. Pathetic.
NELSON MANDELA & THE EXTRAS FROM "BLOOD DIAMOND" MOVIE
Local Heroes
With reference to a story that has been circulating on the internet the past week, I'd like to tell you the REAL story of a group of very special youngsters who were extras in a Hollywood film and have a chance at a new life because of it.
All of the youngsters are South African and students at the Vukuzenzele Special School in Bizana on the Eastern Cape in South Africa.
They are all part of a group from the Amputee Club of South Africa.
There is no charity known as the Eastern Cape - the Eastern Cape is the name of the province where the school is located.
None of the youngsters are victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone.
And, as far as I know they are not orphans.
They were extras on the movie set while it was filmed on the Wild Coast in South Africa.
Vukuzenzele Special School
One of the extras is a boy named Nkululo Mnisi. He is a 16 year old student at the Bizana's Vukuzenzele Special School in South Africa in the Eastern Cape province.
Nkululo and his friend, Simon, a charming young (10 year old) amputee play a crucial role in pivotal scenes in the controversial Warner Bros film, Blood Diamond. Simon and Nkululo and 6 of their friends - all schoolmates from Bizana's Vukuzenzele Special School (rural Transkei) - spent more than a week working with the Hollywood stars, Leonardo Dicaprio and Djimon Hounsou, on the WB movie set when it was filmed on location in South Africa near Port Edward.
Setting the record straight
Nkululo was born in South Africa, and lives with his mother in Mt. Ayliffe when he is not at the boarding school. Nkululo's arms and legs were NOT cut off by machete-wielding rebels (as first reported in the New York Post).
He is a bi-lateral above the knees amputee. [He is certainly not a victim of any the civil wars and his disability comes from the fact that he was born with a deformity in one foot and the other foot didn't develop properly.
At first it was a below the knee bilateral amputation; but after an infection, there were more operations and now he is what is considered an above the knee bilateral amputee.
Another thing, his classmates are not "cruel" -as stated in the same article - they are a loving caring close-knit group of friends - who have nicknames for one another as do many American kids.
Nelson Mandela
Just a few months after filming ended, Mnisi and his friends from school have all been fitted with new light weight prosthetics.
Nkululo has been practicing the past 2 weeks because the knees tend to lock and his new height makes him a bit dizzy.
He is a proud youngster and his dream is to play soccer: but, for now, his goal is to walk tall when he meets Nelson Mandela in a special celebration that is planned in Mt. Coke in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in November.