INTERVIEW | Congo DR: We Will Win Peace: Mineral Trade Fuels Congo’s Conflict
August 2014 | Seth Chase, with Hana Obradović | Humanitarianbazaar.org
Filmmaker Seth Chase is about to premiere Obama’s Law, his new feature film as director, which tells the story of mineral exploitation and its role in conflict in Congo. Humanitarian Bazaar founder Daniel J Gerstle had the pleasure to almost be in a car wreck together with Seth out in the remote Somali desert, hitchhike by airplane together in South Sudan, and get drunk talking about grenades together in New York. Seth had just won a new camera in Oxfam’s Shooting Povery contest for the film he made with Bryce Blondel in Burundi called, Bang for Your Buck.
Daniel then directed Filming Violence with Humanitarian Bazaar (when it was called HELO Magazine) as a behind the scenes of the Shooting Poverty project, which is how they met. Taking a look at Seth’s extensive film work in Burundi and Congo, and his great stories and warm sense of humor, it made great sense to invite him to direct Humanitarian Bazaar’s promotional film work for Adeso Africa.
Over the past years, Seth became the expat film guru of Bujumbura (put that on a T-Shirt, man) and then launched this latest adventure, Obama’s Law. The film takes a look at the role of mineral exploitation in fueling violence in the Congo region, and whether Western policies are helping, or hurting. HB media coordinator Hana Obradovic asks Seth about his new film.
Hana Obradović: Rwandan genocide seems to be a mine from which many exploit their stories based on bloodshed and savagery between humans. What is it with the minerals, that made you go deep into the mines of the Eastern Congo to find a story?
Seth Chase: I was eating kabobs with a friend I’d known for years. He used to work in Burundi but he moved to eastern Congo just over a year before this kabob outing… and he told me he was visiting these artisanal mines in the DRC working to improve labor rights on an EU grant he won. He’s telling me that hundreds of thousands of these guys are down in these tunnels that you can basically only crawl in because they’re so narrow, and they’re digging out minerals with picks and hammers. I tried to picture it in my mind as he talked and I thought:
I want to film these guys, that sounds crazy, but they’re in pitch black, and they’re black guys in pitch black, which doesn’t bode well for video. He said he would crawl into these mines and not see a guy working until he was right on top of him. Sometimes they didn’t use they’re lamps to save batteries… etc, or two guys share a lamp. He then told me that they’re all out of work because of a US Law that got passed that the locals were calling “Obama’s Law”. I thought that was interesting too. So I asked him if he thought it’s possible to film in the mines. He said no, that it would be extremely difficult. So of course I had to try. That’s how it started.
Hana: Local issues and ethnic relations, regional conflict, Congo-Rwanda, mining concessions – how would you define the major driver of peace in the DRC and among its peoples – your camera not being one of them. What do locals believe will reduce this conflict?
Seth: This is one of those tough questions that I love to side step. Many non-Rwandaphone Congolese will say peace will come once Rwanda leaves their country alone and stops stealing minerals. Civil society will say that once Kinshasa starts to genuinely work to serve the people and stop being so fantastically corrupt it would usher in a form of peace in time. Other congolese will say, a lot of land disputes need to be settled along with citizenship issues. Academics get more nuanced. They all include poverty and they point out that if justice, security, and jobs (food security and security in general at the local, national, and regional level) weren’t lacking at such fantastic levels…
If that weren’t the case, and reasonably paying jobs were abundant then peace could start to take root. Most don’t offer solutions, mainly they just give basic critiques of everything that’s not working. The default seems to be: we need a stronger less corrupt government. Also there are a lot of requests for more international intervention and money to be thrown at the problem, Jeffrey Sachs would love these guys and the locals would support his model of throwing money around, and Dambisa Moyo would be furious.
Hana: Do you believe that “Western activism” can actually make a change, in terms of its influence on domestic policy makers (DRC), to increase the living standard, by establishing health centers, etc? We’ve heard the story of “a whole mining site and not one health center” – does the health reform hide behind the title? What are Mr. President’s reflections on the title of the documentary? Has he expressed his support?
Seth: Shit, you don’t even save the 10 million dollar question for last. I was hoping these questions would get easier but now I feel like this is a final exam on international development in post conflict zones in central Africa. I’m so tempted to spill coffee on your shirt and walk away. Do I believe that “Western activism” can actually make a change in terms of its influence on domestic policy makers in the DRC?
I could stop you right there and say no, not according to the western activism I’ve seen in relation to Congolese civil servants that I’ve met. Western activists having an effect on Congolese ministers in general seems a bit idealistic to me, full stop. You however, get specific and ask if the Western activism can move Congolese policy makers to build health centers at mine sites in Congo. I’d say you could bribe Congolese policy makers to allow western NGO’s to build health centers in the DRC, but I don’t believe Western activism will move Congolese policy makers to serve the Congolese population.
Meaningful health reform from the Congolese government will not come to the DRC anytime soon I’m afraid. Health reform bills may get passed but implementation is another story. In regard to the President question I assume you’re talking about Obama. I suspect he would tell me to change the name, and I’ve been trying, but I haven’t found anything that I like better. Obama has not expressed his support of this film, however his favorite think tank, “the center for american progress” has supported the conflict mineral legislation.
Hana: What are you expectations in terms of the movie? Do you really expect to make an impact on those sitting in their offices discussing about HR and Protection at Work?
Seth: At this point I don’t have high expectations for the film in terms of impact. It’s so nuanced, and it’s subject is very local and not assessable to a mass audience. Historically, documentaries on Congo don’t get much traction with large audiences and fail to get distribution. I expect the film to resonate a bit in Germany if I’m lucky. For some reason there’s a group of Germans (50k or so) that are interested in conflict minerals from the DRC.
Aid workers would like this film I think. You’ll like it (especially if it’s got a killer soundtrack). I think it will generate a nice discussion amongst people who take the time to watch it and have a vested interesting in Aid, activism, and Congo. I don’t see it impacting those sitting in their offices discussing HG and labor rights. I think if they watched it, they would find a lot about the film that they like, and a lot that they detest.
Hana: On a local level – can a better standard for workers help overcome local relations and ethnic issues? Or are they left to themselves, since they have no other perspective/alternative?
Seth: A better standard for workers wouldn’t hurt local relations, and it would help to eventually overcome local ethnic issues. By better standard I mean, health, safety, health care, wages etc. It won’t solve the issues, but it’s part of the formula. Unfortunately they are left to themselves. Right now they have no other alternative.
Hana: Take us behind the scenes on how difficult it was to film this on the field? Maybe a day in the making of this film?< Seth: Shooting this film was and is a nightmare. It’s the most difficult thing I’ve done in my life. I’ve rarely been so angry. Mainly bribing officials was hard on me. It was how they did it, more than that they did it. I knew I’d have to pay bribes. But the way they timed it, how they trap you and threaten you, the amount they go for. The fact that it’s never a one time thing. They bleed you out, day by day, and they’re just the top tier. Then you have your fixer/logistician bleed you, then the police, then the rebels. Also we had a lot of people lying to us, costing us time and money.
But actually hanging with miners is fun at times. Of course they want all your money as well, but they’re less aggressive. Filming in the mines is rough, it’s so filthy and it’s hard to breath in there. So much dust, it’s horrible for cameras. Most of my stuff got destroyed on this shoot. I find shooting in the DRC to be a horrible experience in general. It wrecked me. I prefer shooting in Somalia and S. Sudan with you any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Hana: We have so many films where people remember the foreigners who came in to film or act, but who are the local heroes of this story? Who is portrayed in the film as the main local character(s)?
Seth: We have two miners who are heroes. Not conventional heroes mind you but heroes none the less. You can see Chang here and Apocalypse here.