Blood in the Mobile

Has it ever occurred to you that your mobile phone could contain precious minerals stained with the blood of war victims from the Democratic Republic of Congo? And that each phone call indirectly supports the biggest military conflict since the Second World War (which has claimed the lives of five million people in the past 15 years)? No, this is not a joke: your mobile phone cannot do without the rare minerals that come from mostly the illegal mines in this country. Danish director Frank Piasecki Poulsen begins his investigation at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona. To his horror, he discovers that no mobile phone manufacturer can give him assurances that their phones have nothing to do with the remorseless war over mineral deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Consequently, he sets out the "scene of the crime." After an arduous journey, he comes to one of the largest mines in Congo's Bisie region. Child labour, young underage girls working as prostitutes, death by cave-in, and shootouts between local gang members are all part of the everyday reality, as is the corruption that is present everywhere throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo.