Beautiful, harsh and eye opening; since I was a little boy, I always dreamed of seeing the Congo. ~~ From @expedition.studios: Following the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ of gold in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the ongoing @natgeotv Explorer series. For this story @taylorfreesolo and @renan_ozturk were brought on as cinematographers under director @j.j.kelley for one of our most eye-opening experiences to date. The ultimate goal was to trace every step of gold extraction - illicit or otherwise - from its source in the Congolese hills through its process of leaving the country. We started with access to the rebel group called ‘Movement for Action and Change’ (MAC) deep in the jungles of North Kivu. Here, any of the preconceived notions or stereotypes we had about ‘the warlords and rebels’ of the MAC proved to be quite misguided as we witnessed a resilient community practising self protection after hundreds of years of conflict. In reality, their communities had schools, agriculture alongside mineral mining for all in this place - although, AK47’s just in case, too. As stark contrast we also documented government certified ‘conflict free’ gold mines and other parts of the supply chain. Here we saw drastic differences in wealth across the communities generated from the gold and other minerals. The official stats on how much gold comes out of North Kivu is zero, but we filmed quite the opposite. The minerals we consume for our tech have deep complicated roots and this project was a small opportunity connect first hand. @j.j.kelley - director @elaishastokes - producer @taniarashid - correspondent @barka_horebbulambo- local fixer @taylorfreesolo/ @renan_ozturk - camera @aldo_astoria - sound #congo #conflictminerals [Music by @lgnnelson with @timfain on violin]