The Diggers
Synopsis
The Diggers is an observation journey into various artisanal mining sites in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The film shows the arduous and surreal labor of adults and teenagers extracting coltan, tungsten and black tourmaline. Our camera captures their repeated movements, their picks, their sweat, fatigue, their faces tense by the effort, their breathing.
Festivals
- Festival vues sur mer, Gaspé, Canada, 2021.
- RVQC - Rendez-Vous Québec Cinéma, Montreal, Canada, 2021.
- Paraloeil, Rimouski, Canada, 2021.
- Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands. 2021.
- Cogo in Harlem, USA, 2021.
- Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival, Germany, 2021.
Director: Mathieu Roy
DOP: Mathieu Roy
Editing: Louis-Martin Paradis
Sound: Christian Rivest
Production: Mathieu Roy (MR2 Films Inc.)
Version
French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda
Format
16/9, 5.1
DCP, ProRes 422, H264
Mathieu Roy lives between Montreal and Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2020, he will launch his new documentary entitled Les Diggers, an essay on artisanal mineral diggers in eastern DRC. His last two documentaries: The Dispossessed (2017) and Disposession (2018) focus on the global food crisis and the mechanisms of impoverishment of farmers around the world. They were both presented at the prestigious documentary festival Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland, as well as at other festivals such as in Montreal (RIDM), in Jihlava in the Czech Republic, in Barcelona, in Solothurn in Switzerland, in Mumbai, Pune, Assam and Dharamshala in India. His feature-length documentary Surviving Progress (2011) shot in China, Brazil and North America, offers a reflection on the ravages of the ideology of progress and on the destiny of our civilization. Launched at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in fall 2011. His film François Girard en Trois Actes (2005) won the Gemini award for best cultural documentary. In 2006, he directed La Peau de Léopard, a documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alongside journalist Pierre Nadeau. In 2009, at the opening of the 27th International Film Festival on Art (FIFA), Mathieu presented Death in Venice: A Musical Journey with Louis Lortie.
