We Will Win Peace

An American film maker specializing in African advocacy videos goes behind the scenes of humanitarian aid and activism to see the intricacies of good intentions. The unexpected story that follows reveals the lives of two Congolese miners as they react to the competing pressures placed upon them by Hollywood celebrities, rebel soldiers, student activists, and, ultimately, their own families. Seth Chase is an American videographer living in East Africa since 2007, specializing in making African advocacy and marketing videos for aid organizations. Intrigued by the sensationalist media coverage about conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Seth goes deep into the jungles of eastern Congo to explore its mines and unearth the world that exists beyond the shocking media headlines in Africa's deadliest conflict zone. While there he meets Chang and Apocalypse, two artisanal miners who spend their days and nights pulling these minerals out of hand-made mineshafts; minerals that feed the global economy. Amid this world of corporate exploitation, rebels, government corruption, and abject poverty, each man has found a way to carve out a life for himself and his family. In 2010, half the world away in the US, a conflict mineral campaign to end the war in eastern Congo begins to gain a lot of ground. Activists across America rally against the use of conflict minerals in American cell phones and consumer electronics. President Obama signs into law Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires all companies registered on the US stock exchange to declare if the minerals they use in their products come from the Congo. Back in Congo, in response to the American legislation, the mining sector shuts down and an economic crisis hits the region. Chang and Apocalypse form unlikely relationships and are forced to make difficult decisions as Congolese miners desperately try to get their minerals sold so they can continue to make the living they fought for, in a hostile environment.