“An Apple for help. It is in these terms that a choir of Congolese miners challenges the international community. It also lists the names of other major industrial groups that are hungry for electric batteries, and therefore hungry for cobalt, such as Nokia, Samsung, Huawei, Tesla, BMW and General Motors. This song opens the documentary directed by Quentin Noirfalise and Arnaud Zajtman. He also closes it, saying, “We’re afraid of your batteries. »

In the meantime, the documentary takes us behind the scenes of cobalt mining. The dark side of the green car. Indeed, this blue mineral is the key to driving without polluting. It takes almost 10 kilograms per battery. However, in the midst of the climate crisis, the electric car carries the promise of an ecological transition and is becoming a major challenge for car manufacturers. Everyone wants to secure their supply of so-called “strategic” metals, including cobalt. Knowing that the basement of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) holds the largest share.

The directors show us that this wealth, increased by the surge in the price of cobalt, does not benefit the Congolese population. With testimonies from international NGOs and local activists, they shed light on the environmental and human cost of this mining. We go with a “digger” to the bottom of the so-called “artisanal” mines, he talks about his fear of a dangerous and poorly paid task. These unofficial mines have been singled out by Amnesty International for using child labor. A survey that caused a stir when it was published.

Pollution et corruption

Other testimonies, those of farmers whose fields have been altered by the pollution of river water, loaded with extraction residues. Contamination that affects the health of populations. Finally, the documentary tells us about the corruption that surrounded the allocation of the country’s rich deposits to major international mining groups to the detriment of the DRC’s finances.

Faced with this situation and the risk of dependency, Europe is trying to find ways to increase its sovereignty. A Belgian recycling plant would put infinitely recyclable metals back into the industrial circuit. A Finnish mine would be reactivated to exploit a cobalt seam – but NGOs denounce the failures of the mining group, already condemned in 2012 to close the site after pollution of the surrounding waters. European sovereignty will also go through the construction of battery gigafactories in the face of Chinese hegemony. An approach illustrated by the Northvolt project in Sweden.

After watching this very complete documentary, the viewer will have another look at the electric car.