Tamale, Aug. 19, GNA – International Documentary Film Director, Stuart
Harmon, has taken on the controversial subject of Ghana’s child gold
miners for his first feature-length film “The Money Stone”.
The film tells the stories of Justice and Maxwell, two teen boys
working to achieve their dreams in deadly gold mines in Ghana.
It will make its Africa premiere at the Black Star International
Film Festival with screenings on August 22 at 20:00 hours and August 24
at 14:00 hours at the Silverbird Cinema at the Accra Mall, in Ghana’s
national capital.
In a statement to the press in Ghana
through the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Harmon said “through the
compelling stories of Justice and Maxwell, ‘The Money Stone’ offers an
untold perspective of galamsey, by illuminating the complicated family
dynamics, cycle of poverty and the trillion-dollar global gold trade
behind the scourge of child labour”.
The interwoven
tales, the statement noted, “takes the viewer on an incredible journey
through the teens’ lives, offering rich and personal coming of age
stories, unlike anything seen before”.
It indicated that
Mr Harmon began this film while working on his master’s thesis at the
New York University (NYU’s) School of Journalism and has visited Ghana
several times with his producing partner, Paula Ely.
“Over
the 11 years we spent filming THE MONEY STONE, I began to understand
the extremely difficult choices impoverished families have to make in
order to survive. On the one hand, children at the mines are not only in
near-constant danger from the perilous conditions, but they also have
to face corrupt bosses and suffer from an unjust political system that
forces them to work as criminals. Yet, many families choose that over
the uncertainty of education, where years of schooling and sacrifices
may never pay off in a viable job.”
It stated that Harmon’s
previous work includes television and documentary programmes for the
New York Times, Vice, A&E, MTV, and CNN, among others and added that
the Film Maker is the recipient of two Telly Awards.
According to Ms Ely, his working partner’s credits include the award
winning documentary “Vanishing Cultures: Bushmen of the Kalahari.”
“The Money Stone” according to the statement made its world
premiere back in October, 2018 at the Austin Film Festival and has since
screened at film festivals around the world.
“The team
has also been the recipient of several competitive film grants as well
as participated in the renowned IFP Rough Cut Lab”, the statement added.
According to Mr Harmon, “the film will be one of five
documentaries in competition at the Black Star International Film
Festival. Stuart and the film’s subjects will be involved in a question
and answer (Q&A) session after each screening”.
The
statement concluded, “Mr Harmon and his team looks forward to a spirited
discussion about the issues with a full audience”.
