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sunday may 26 | 7:00 pm
Diamonds and Rust
Directors: Adi Barash & Ruth Shatz (Israel, 2001, 73 min, video)
On the "Spirit of Namibia" moored
off the west coast of Africa, diamond mining goes on around the
clock. The ocean floor's supply of the coveted gems seems endless,
but their capture is muddy with politics and fraught with racial
tensions. Without commentary, the filmmakers plunge us into the
daily life of an international crew working in the service of a
faceless mining conglomerate that owns not only the ship but the
surrounding waters as well. As they do battle with the rusty old
ship and its dubious rewards, the men are drawn into contemplation
of their situation. Their social matrix is a revealing microcosm:
white South Africans spout racist theories, Cubans write poetry
and speak of love, an Israeli security manager who makes himself
everyone's enemy, and Namibian deck hands find themselves colonized
on board, despite "liberation" in their own country.
Diamonds and Rust is an award-winning
debut film by Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz, who spent three months
aboard the ship. The filmmakers' foresight and craftsmanship are
the true gems in this story. Their unrelenting efforts remind us
of what is precious in documentary filmmaking, the ability to remark
on the ambiguity of real life and to question the sordid affairs
of mankind. Winner of two international prizes in 2001, Cinema du
Reel Film Festival's SCAM Prize and San Francisco International
Film Festival's Golden Gate Award.
"Films like Diamonds and Rust, remind
us of the capabilities of documentaries. Documentaries have the
ability to capture moments of reality that are too often overlooked,
and the potential to be accomplished works of art that stand on
their own. While narrative films come as an aesthetic package, documentaries
can turn the significant into the revelatory."
-Natan Gelgud.
T.W.
Running time: 73 minutes
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