Warning: It may be a while before you figure out why, exactly, people are calling The Ambassador a “comedy.” Then again what’s not hilarious about a documentary that explores diplomatic corruption, the brutal blood-diamond trade, Pygmy exploitation and casual violence in the Central African Republic?

Danish journalist Mads Brügger—who looks like the ill-conceived but not entirely unattractive offspring of Jonathan Ames and Hunter S. Thompson—went undercover in the region, posing as a rich European interested in procuring a lucrative Liberian diplomatic post. Such a title affords you many things in C.A.R., not the least of which is the ability to discreetly purchase a diamond mine, which you can then begin capitalizing on, smuggling its product out of the country (once the right palms have been greased). Just make sure you can trust the people with whom you do business, as they might die, flee the country with your money, find out that you aren’t actually a diplomat and hand you over to the government—or simply have you killed. The comedy is rife. Read More