Underplayed Gems

Bananas!* (2009)

Bananas!* poster
Directed by
Fredrik Gertten
Genre
documentary film
Country
Sweden
Runtime
1h 27m
Rated
12
Rating
6.6 of 10 from 17 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

Swedish documentary about banana plantation workers in Nicaragua who say a pesticide made them sterile. It follows the legal fight with the Dole Food Company.

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What happens

Bananas!* is a 2009 Swedish documentary directed by Fredrik Gertten about a conflict between the Dole Food Company and banana plantation workers in Nicaragua over alleged cases of sterility caused by the pesticide DBCP. The film was criticized by Dole for containing "patent falsehoods". After a screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2009, Gertten was sued for defamation by Dole on 8 July. The lawsuit was preceded by threats of legal action from Dole aimed against the LA Film Festival, which resulted in sponsors pulling support and the film being removed from competition. Dole dropped their lawsuit against Fredrik Gertten and Bananas!* on 15 October 2009. In September 2009, the Swedish parliament members Mats Johansson (M) and Luciano Astudillo (S) took the initiative of displaying the movie in the Parliament of Sweden, this being its premiere in Sweden. In late 2010 a court in Los Angeles decided in favor of the movie crew, making it possible to release the film in the US. A judge awarded the filmmakers nearly $200,000 in fees and costs. In 2011, Gertten directed the film Big Boys Gone Bananas!* about how the company was sued by Dole. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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