The Devil Operation

While filming protests of Peruvian farmers against an American mining corporation that pollutes their country, a documentary maker discovers evidence of foul play. The farmers receive support from local priest Marco Arana. The Devil Operation is nothing short of a political thriller.

In the Cajamarca region, in the Peruvian Andes, back in 2001 a conflict erupts over the plans by the Yanacocha gold mine to expand its activities to a holy mountain. Mountain people discover that their drinking water has been contaminated by the operations of the American mining corporation. The community puts up a resistance. Thanks to the mediation of local priest Marco Arana in 2004, bloodshed can be avoided. But then, Arana and a group of environmental activists find out that they are tailed and that pictures are taken of them. Threats and intimidation are rife, and one person even gets killed. Who is keeping an eye on them?
Documentary maker Stephanie Boyd, who directed previous films on abuses in Peru’s mining industry, initially plan to film protesting farmers, but she gradually discovers that this gold mine has more secrets to hide. Based on archives, interviews with those concerned and her personal findings, Boyd explains what proverbial Goliath has thrown himself upon David.