Blood in the Mobile

Blood in the Mobile is a film of contrasts. The scorched heat and violence of Africa juxtaposes sharply with the glacial serenity of the Finnish Nokia HQ, although its boardroom smiles exude more threat than even the machine gun-toting Congolese rebels. Director Frank Poulson confronts both these dangers in his new documentary on blood minerals and their use in the very same mobile phones we hold to our ears each day. Poulson is a formidable interviewer and chips away splenetically at the mighty corporate monolith of Nokia. He seeks answers as to why they continue to use these blood minerals in their products, financing a civil war which has claimed over five million lives. Contrary to many modern documentaries it is the story rather than the filmmaker which takes centre stage here. There is little room for egotism with such subject matter. This is a valuable film which needs to be seen and which holds an uneasy truth that makes us all complicit. [Alan Bett]