After Fredrik Gertten’s documentary on 12 Nicaraguan plantation workers, BANANAS, is pulled from competition at the LA Film Festival, Gertten receives a letter from Dole’s attorneys threatening legal action if the film is shown at this festival and to cease and desist. What follows is an unparalleled story that Gertten captured on film. He filmed this entire 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. BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!* can be seen as a thriller and a cautionary tale. But, mostly this is a personal story about what happened to Gertten, as a documentary filmmaker and to his company and how the livelihood of documentary filmmakers can be easily put into jeopardy. Director Fredrik Gertten talks to us about his film and how a multinational will stop at nothing to get its way even when freedom of speech is at stake.
