Acres of Diamond
ENESFR
A film crew setting up a shot in an open-air corridor
A presenter briefing colleagues around a meeting table
A cinema camera set up to film a documentary interview
Hands harvesting ripe coffee cherries on a hillside farm
A large cut diamond resting in an open palm
A diamond merchant examining a stone through a loupe
Fine jewellery displayed in a lit showcase in a diamond store
Shoppers at the street window of a jeweller full of watches, rings and bracelets for sale
Rings, necklaces, bracelets and diamonds laid out for sale on a jeweller’s counter
Three volcanoes rising above Guatemala City
A film crew setting up a shot in an open-air corridor
A presenter briefing colleagues around a meeting table
A cinema camera set up to film a documentary interview
Hands harvesting ripe coffee cherries on a hillside farm

The series

Acres of Diamond is a documentary series about homeland investment, filmed on location and built on what people say on the record — and on what the figures confirm.

Photographs: Tri Vo, Campaign Creators, Sam McGhee, Luba Glazunova on Unsplash

Film in production
How an episode is made2:00 · From the first call with an agency to the final cut: the method, step by step.

Three formats

Country Spotlight

25–35min

Each Season One country receives one flagship episode built around the people who shape investment policy. We sit down with the investment-promotion agency, with ministers and with mayors, and ask what an investor would ask: which sectors are opening, which incentives apply, what it costs to set up, and how long it takes.

On camera
Heads of investment agencies, ministers, mayors and the officials who run their programmes.
What you take away
A clear picture of where a country is steering investment, and how to approach it.

The Ones Who Returned

15–20min

Portraits of people who left, built a life abroad and then went back to build something at home. We follow them through a working day and ask for the full account: the capital, the permits, the partners, the setbacks and the near-misses.

On camera
Returnees who run farms, factories, clinics, hotels and service businesses.
What you take away
An honest sense of what it takes, from someone who has done it.

Share your return story

Hidden in Plain Sight

10–12min

A short, focused film on a single opportunity that most people walk past. We describe the gap, estimate the cost of entry from sources we can cite, and set out who is best placed to act on it — and what could go wrong.

On camera
Local operators, sector specialists and, where relevant, the officials responsible.
What you take away
One concrete idea, examined from every side.
Stacked shipping containers at a cargo terminal
Logistics and nearshoring are recurring threads across the season.Photo Barrett Ward on Unsplash

How an episode is made

Every episode follows the same path from first research to publication.

  1. Research and scouting

    We study the country’s investment landscape, its public data and its ties to the diaspora, then scout locations and stories in person.

  2. Access

    We request interviews with the investment-promotion body and the relevant officials, and find returnees willing to speak openly about their experience.

  3. Filming on location

    A small crew films on the ground — offices, farms, factories, ports and building sites — rather than narrating a country from a distance.

  4. Verification

    Every figure, incentive and claim stated on camera is checked against official or published sources before release.

  5. Edit and release

    Episodes are edited in Spanish and English, subtitled, and published on our YouTube channel.

How an episode is made

  1. We go in person.
  2. We meet the ministers and the mayors.
  3. We walk the ground with the people who went back and built.
  4. Then we film all of it.

Production standards

On location
Filmed where the opportunity is. We do not describe a country from a studio.
Bilingual
Produced in Spanish and English, with subtitles, so that the diaspora and audiences at home can follow every word.
Fact-checked figures
Numbers on screen are checked against their source and dated. Where a figure is an estimate, we say so.
In their own words
Officials and returnees speak for themselves. We edit for length and clarity, never to change meaning.
Reporting, not advice
We report what we find. Nothing in the series is a recommendation to invest.

Have a story we should film?

If you went home and built something — or you know someone who did — we would like to hear about it.

Tell us your story