MOVIE TREATMENT
Title: Cell Phones in the Congo
Genre: Political Action Drama / Humanitarian Thriller
Tagline: “The war behind your screen is about to go global.”
Starring: Joe Jukic, Nelly Furtado, Angelina Jolie, Kanye West
Based on true events—twisted by courage.
LOGLINE
Three rogue UN Peacekeepers—Joe Jukic, Nelly Furtado, and Angelina Jolie—defy orders and race against time to rally an African-led peacekeeping army, with Kanye West as their unpredictable commander, to stop the blood-mineral trade exploiting Congolese children and fueling the world’s cell phone addiction.
ACT ONE: THE FALLEN SIGNAL
Eastern Congo, near Bukavu – UN Peacekeepers Joe Jukic, Nelly Furtado, and Angelina Jolie operate a small, underfunded detachment meant to observe only. But when a drone captures footage of armed rebels forcing children into mineral mines, the team breaks protocol and intervenes, saving a small group of boys.
Instead of medals, they’re reprimanded. The UN command warns: “We’re peacekeepers, not saviors.”
Joe, a Croatian-Canadian ex-journalist turned peacekeeper, is furious. Nelly, who left her music career to fight for justice after visiting Congo with UNICEF, is emotionally devastated by the children’s trauma. Angelina, hardened from years of diplomatic failure, coldly declares:
“If the system won’t save them, we’ll build one that can.”
ACT TWO: A GENERAL WITH A BEAT
The trio sets off on a rogue mission to expose the dirty pipeline of coltan and cobalt—from the mines to the smartphone factories in Asia, to tech giants in Silicon Valley.
But to stop the flow, they need an army. Not mercenaries. Not more Western soldiers. Africa must protect Africa.
They turn to a controversial figure: Kanye West, recently gone dark after a political breakdown and spiritual retreat in Ghana. Joe finds him preaching to a crowd of youth in Dakar, dressed in a cloak, calling himself “Yēsū X”.
Kanye agrees—but only if the army is African-owned, tech-powered, and uncorrupted by the UN or IMF. He wants to livestream justice. “We don’t need donors. We need a revolution… and a signal.”
ACT THREE: OPERATION BLOODLINE
Kanye assembles a legion of Congolese volunteers, ex-child soldiers, Pan-African veterans, and hackers. Nelly composes a haunting anthem—“Echoes from the Mine”—that becomes the soundtrack of resistance. Angelina uses her old contacts to smuggle in medical aid and solar-powered comms. Joe gathers whistleblowers inside tech companies willing to go public.
The enemy is powerful:
- Multinational companies
- Corrupt militia generals
- A private Western PMC guarding the biggest mine, Operation Vulcan, where thousands of children dig in darkness.
The climactic battle takes place deep in the jungle, where Kanye’s legion, backed by grassroots activists, drone swarms, and guerrilla comms, storms the compound. Children are freed. Data is dumped to the world in real time.
As bullets fly and signals rise, a voice echoes over speakers:
“You wanted cheap phones. This is the real cost.”
EPILOGUE: A NEW PROTOCOL
The UN is forced to act. The Congo Child Labor Ban Treaty is signed. African Peacekeeping Forces are permanently established with full autonomy.
Joe returns to writing, penning a memoir: “Blood in the Circuit.”
Nelly opens schools throughout Central Africa, funded by her comeback world tour.
Angelina trains new peacekeepers for the African Union.
Kanye disappears—rumored to be building a solar-powered city-state in Senegal.
TONE & STYLE
Cell Phones in the Congo is a gritty, cinematic exposé with raw realism and mythic rebellion. Inspired by Black Hawk Down, Beasts of No Nation, and The Battle of Algiers, with a modern digital war overlay—where live feeds, viral music, and hacked satellites shape global conscience.
DIRECTED BY
Denis Villeneuve or Kathryn Bigelow
SCORE BY
Hans Zimmer x Burna Boy x Kanye West remixing Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire”.
PRODUCED BY
Participant Media, Plan B, and Netflix Africa
RATING: R (intense thematic content, war violence, child endangerment)
“Cell Phones in the Congo”
You hold the war in your hand. Now watch them fight to stop it.
SCENE TITLE: “Put On the Beret”
Location: Makeshift UN Peacekeeper Camp – Eastern Congo Jungle
Time: Dusk – Jungle shadows stretch long. A generator hums in the distance. Loud rhythmic drums thump from speakers in the background: BKenyan’s underground hit “Teknology” blaring over camp speakers.
EXT. JUNGLE CAMP – TRAINING GROUND – SUNSET
Hundreds of young African peacekeeper recruits practice drills with wooden rifles. A massive African flag and a tattered UN banner flutter side by side. KANYE WEST, dressed in a high-collared desert cloak and cyberpunk tactical vest, paces like a prophet-general, holding a folded blue UN BERET.
BKENYAN, shirtless, scarred, wearing beaded necklaces and headphones, spits lyrics from his track “Teknology” into a handheld mic connected to a small mobile rig, his voice bouncing off the trees:
🎵 “You call it smart — but it’s slave trade tech,
Mama’s tears in your handheld spec…”
Kanye cuts the music abruptly with a wave of his hand.
KANYE
(serious, fire in his eyes)
You got talent. Fire. Rhythm of the people. But without the beret… you just another rapper. Just another beat the world drowns out.
BKENYAN
(defiant, spitting to the dirt)
That blue beret’s got too much blood on it, brother. Seen it lie. Seen it stand by while devils strip our mines and our women.
KANYE
(stepping forward, intense)
Then you make it mean something again. Roddy Piper didn’t ask—he made that man put on the glasses so he could see the truth.
(shoves the beret toward him)
This is your glasses, B. Put it on. See the system. Fight it.
BKENYAN
You tryna Piper me, huh? Wrestle me to the ground till I submit to the flag?
KANYE
(smiles)
Not to a flag. To a future.
Silence. The two men stare each other down like warriors in an ancient duel. The camp watches. Tension thick.
KANYE (CONT’D)
(quietly)
This ain’t the West’s UN anymore. It’s ours. It’s yours. You’re not wearing the system—you’re hijacking it.
He throws the beret at BKenyan’s chest. It falls at his feet.
BKenyan breathes heavy. Stares at the beret like it’s cursed.
BKENYAN
(quietly)
I ain’t no mascot.
Kanye turns, walking away.
KANYE
Then be the goddamn general.
BKenyan bends down. Picks up the beret. Looks at the sky.
Beat kicks back in: “Teknology” resumes. Harder. Rawer.
🎵 “Teknology lied to me—made a robot outta me…”
He walks to the center of the recruits. Puts the beret on. Cheers erupt. The anthem roars louder. The revolution has a soundtrack now.
SMASH CUT TO:
TITLE CARD: “THEY WON’T HEAR US COMING. BUT THEY’LL FEEL IT.”
END SCENE