Entitled “Bananas!” the film by Sweden’s Fredrik Gertten is what he calls a “classical David-Goliath story” between downtrodden workers and a massive multinational firm. Representatives of the company vehemently disagree and are flexing their muscle to make sure the documentary is kept under wraps:
In the eyes of Dole Food Co., Gertten's film is an egregiously flawed document based on what Dole lawyer Scott Edelman calls "a phony story" that has been discredited by the allegedly fraudulent conduct of the L.A. attorney, Juan J. Dominguez, at the film's center. Dole, the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables, is vowing to sue both the filmmaker and the Los Angeles Film Festival for defamation if it screens the movie this week.In 2007, a federal judge awarded $2.5 million in damages to the plaintiffs though another justice would later dismiss that ruling. The Nicaraguan workers claimed that Dole knowingly used a banned pesticide, yet the courts are attempting to toss out the case.
In the view of the festival, which plans to host the movie's world premiere on Saturday, "Bananas!" is an intriguing object lesson that raises important questions about the conduct of U.S. companies abroad, the practices of American attorneys representing foreign workers and the ethical choices facing a documentary filmmaker who has been told after finishing his film that some of his material may be shaky, if not outright false.
While Dole may’ve won this case, there’s another one pending whose plaintiffs are Colombian workers accusing the firm of hiring illegal paramilitaries.
Is “Bananas!” a propaganda piece or a legitimate film? You be the judge:
Online Sources- Forbes, Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist, YouTube, Wall Street Journal
The more relevant question might rather be if a company with all its powers should have the right to stop a film they even not have seen.
ReplyDeleteWe very fast criticize the usual suspects like Iran, China etc but forget this kind of censorship in the USA
Good point, Anon. Yet I suspect Dole's actions will backfire.
ReplyDeleteWhat Dole also forgets is that by trying to stop the movie's screening it's generating extra attention to the documentary.
Additionally, the documentary can (and probably will) be released online. Thus the cat is already out of the bag whether Dole execs and attorneys like it or not.