Diamond Road (2007)

Diamond Road is a three-part series and 96 minute feature documentary exploring the historical, cultural and socio-political facets of the world's most intriguing gem. Boring deep into the diamond world, the series seeks to understand the multiple meanings of an object that is as old as the earth itself. Diamond Road is an intimate and broad-ranging picture of a complex and historically rich world. Key to the series are the people who represent the different stages on the diamond pipeline. They are our guides, our window into a fascinating industry that spans continents and centuries and the deep shifts of history. We journey to Canada's North with a geologist seeking diamonds in a harsh land. We meet top dealers and jewelers of New York, centre of the trade in high-end goods and gateway to the US market. We travel to India, the massive engine of the cutting and polishing industry and now a burgeoning retail market. We journey to Sierra Leone where diamonds are slowly morphing into a tool for development. In South Africa, we meet black diamond entrepreneurs and others who are intent on rewriting their country's troubled history. We travel to Antwerp, heart of the rough trade where an old Jewish master cutter works his magic, and we learn how so many Jewish people were given a second chance at life through diamonds. We meet the passionate collectors willing to pay a small fortune for a stone born at the stroke of creation. And we meet the influential decision-makers who keep the diamond world turning.