Event

Big Boys Gone Bananas

Recently, Swedish documentary filmmaker Fredrik Gertten, experienced what a big corporation is prepared to do to protect its brand. His previous film BANANAS!* recounts the lawsuit that 12 Nicaraguan plantation workers successfully brought against the giant Dole Food Company. The company had been using a pesticide DBCP, long after it was banned, which caused serious ill effects on the workers of Dole. Just before leaving Sweden to attend the Los Angeles world premiere of his film, Gertten gets a strange message - the festival has decided to remove BANANAS!* from competition. Subsequently, Gertten receives a letter from Dole's attorneys threatening legal action if the film is shown at this festival and to cease and desist. This film captures the process of corporate bullying and media spin - from DOLE attacking the producers with a defamation lawsuit, utilizing scare tactics, to media-control and PR-spin.

Fredrik Gertten / Sweden / 2011 / 90 minutes