“a strange mix of Borat and the Economist.” (VIDEO)

Yes, peoples!! The production company Zentropa (1992) that was created by Danish film director and screenwriter Lars von Trier made a brilliant muckraking non-fiction film called The Ambassador. The film was the well-deserved opening film on 16th November 2011 at the IDFA Festival. Zentropa was at the forefront of the Dogme 95 movement which created films like the celebrated Festen. The group went on to produce new films from von Trier, Susanne Bier, Thomas Vinterberg and Niels Arden Oplev. The Ambassador follows Danish journalist Mads Brügger as a European Ambassador whom embarks on a dangerous mission to uncover the blood diamond trade in Africa. The story is as follows: A strange, enigmatic and decadent white diplomat arrives in central Africa, looking like a mixture of Henry Stanley and Karl Lagerfeld. He has recently bought an ambassadorship and claims to be a do-good rich business man, who has come to spearhead a diplomatic mission. Officially he is there to start a factory that produces matches – this, to employ locals and teach how to make this simple piece of fire-making equipment. Unofficially he is really there to gain access to vast reserves of diamonds. Brügger bravely avoids the usual suspects of what he called “the generic African documentary”, NGO people, child soldiers and HIV patients.“ Click here to watch the trailer and full doc here. Watch-Like-Share!