In contrast to Archer, Zwick contends, “Solomon Vandy is the moral center of the film. He is like so many men who have endured the depredations of war. His village is attacked, he loses his freedom, his family is taken, and he is forced to go on this odyssey, but he never loses hope. Even in this foreign environment, his situation is familiar to us…the love of a child, the compelling strength of family. I felt the only fitting way to tell the story was through his eyes—through his pain and anger and frustration and courage—because it’s about his place, his country. As much as we may come to understand Archer’s point of view, this is profoundly Solomon’s story.”

“I thought it was a beautiful story, an opportunity to deal with the difficult issues of conflict diamonds, child soldiers and refugee camps,” says Djimon Hounsou. “There were so many aspects of the film that appealed to me. Certainly, as an African myself, I appreciated that the story is viewed through Solomon’s eyes.”

While Hounsou has not lived in Africa for quite a few years, he has shown it is never far from his heart in his support of organizations like Oxfam and Amnesty International. He recently filmed a public service announcement on the issue of illegal arms trafficking for the latter’s “Make Some Noise” campaign.

“There is always a way to make a difference,” the actor avows. “But do we choose to make a difference, that’s the issue. My understanding is that if you took even half of all the money that is essentially stolen from that continent, you could address hunger, education, health problems…”

Gillian Gorfil recalls, “I could tell Djimon was very moved by his experiences making this film. He is a child of Africa, so he could relate to Solomon and his circumstances in a very personal way.”

“Djimon’s performance was just wonderful. The fact that he is from that continent, that it is in his blood and in his bones, contributed so much to the role. There is just no substitute for that,” asserts Zwick.

On the journey to recover the diamond, Solomon and Archer are inexorably divided by lines of race and class that have existed for generations. “They are both African men, but their histories are very dissimilar,” Zwick says. “Yet they have a mutual connection to this continent as their home. In many ways, it is a shared identity that supersedes their backgrounds. It is the common ground on which they ultimately recognize each other’s humanity in an inhumane situation.”

Nevertheless, Marshall Herskovitz counters, “There is an understandable motivation for these two men to work together, but they have conflicting objectives that keep them in opposition. This is not in any way a buddy movie: Archer and Solomon have very different ways of looking at the world, and we did not want to compromise on that.”