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Maisha: A New Life Outside the Mines

What happens when hundreds of children from the DR Congo drop their tools and abandon the mines? They go to school, start businesses and stop dying at a young age. A rare and timely look at the dangers of DR Congo's small-scale mining sector that powers our digital age, this film takes the viewer to a place few have ventured before: inside the copper and cobalt mines in Kolwezi, southern DRC. This film follows a grass-roots initiative that has generated much conversation -- from the streets of Kolwezi to the halls of the United Nations HQ in New York -- on how the Congolese can break the cycle of poverty, abuse and exploitation inflicted on it by multinational mining companies to build a sustainable development model that's powered by the country's most potent resource: its people.

This grassroots project was featured prominently in a January 2016 Amnesty International report as one of the few projects saving children from the deadly cobalt mines of the DR Congo. https://goo.gl/8oZtKw

  • Cristina Duranti
    Director
  • Bernhard Warner
    Director
  • Bernhard Warner
    Writer
  • Luca Paradiso
    Writer
  • Luca Paradiso
    Producer
  • Giampaolo Bisegna
    Producer
  • Cristina Duranti
    Producer
  • Bernhard Warner
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Human Rights, Sustainable Development, Sustainability, Environment, Politics, Human Development, Mining, Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Runtime:
    28 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 26, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Congo, the Democratic Republic of the
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Human Rights Film Festival of Barcelona / NYC / Paris (2016)
    Barcelona
    Spain
    November 30, 2016
    Spanish premiere
    Best documentary (short film)
  • United Nations: 54th Session of the UN Commission on Social Development
    New York
    United States
    February 4, 2016
    North American premiere
  • Human District Film Festival
    Belgrade
    Serbia
    June 21, 2016
    Serbian premiere
  • Vaasa International Nature Film Festival
    Vaasa
    Finland
    September 28, 2016
    Finnish premiere
    Best Ethnographic - Special Merit Award
  • 14° FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL SIGNOS DE LA NOCHE
    Quito
    Ecuador
    August 29, 2016
    Latin American Premiere
  • Sunlight International Film Festival
    Moscow
    Russian Federation
    July 4, 2017
    Russian premiere
  • 14° Festival internacional Signos da Noite
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    October 3, 2016
    Portuguese
Distribution Information
  • Independent (no restrictions)
Director Biography - Cristina Duranti, Bernhard Warner

Bernhard Warner is a Rome-based journalist. Maisha is his second short documentary about conflict minerals and the plight of child miners in the DR Congo. Over a 20-year career in journalism, Bernhard has written for major publications in the United States and Europe including, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wired, Time, The Guardian, Slate.com, Reuters, Inc. and The Times of London. For more information about his journalism, and editorial projects please see: http://bernhardwarner.net

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The Executive producer of Maisha is Cristina Duranti, director of the Good Shepherd International Foundation ONLUS. The film was co-shot and co-written by Luca Paradiso and Bernhard Warner. Giampaolo Bisegna oversaw post-production in Rome.