Based on the 1986 book by Eishy Hayata, who serves here as co-director, scripter, executive producer and star, "Emerald Cowboy" is notable chiefly for its location work -- it marks the first time in a quarter-century that an American crew shot a film in Bogota and the first time any filmmakers entered the country's emerald mines in the rugged Andes. The film offers intriguing glimpses of the gentle bargaining over rough stones in open-air markets, a sharp contrast to the country's general climate of violence. Besides the ongoing activities of left-wing guerrillas and the paramilitaries associated with cocaine cartels, in the 1980s a Guerra Verde (Green War) raged through the mine districts over claim disputes, taking thousands of lives.

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