Event
BANANAS!*
The polarizing documentary BANANAS!* returns to Los Angeles for a one night theatrical screening engagement on the eve of the trial between DOLE Food Company and filmmaker Fredrik Gertten. Both filmmaker Gertten and his attorney Lincoln Bandlow will be in attendance to discuss the film following each screening on June 23 in downtown Los Angeles.
After last year's highly controversial screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival amid threats of lawsuits, Dole Food Company sued director Gertten and his production company WG FILM. However, Dole withdrew the lawsuit after Gertten's home country, Sweden, and its Parliament signed a petition demanding Dole withdraw the lawsuit on the basis of freedom of speech. Next Thursday, June 24 following the Los Angeles screening, Gertten will have his day in court against Dole, fighting a SLAPP motion.
"One year later after the turmoil at last year's LA Film Festival, I am glad that the public can see the film that Dole Food Company didn't want anyone to see," said filmmaker Gertten. "We are pleased that our US distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories is screening this film for the public at this time before the DVD comes out, so that everyone can see for themselves. With Chevron coming on down on my fellow filmmaker Joe Berlinger for his film CRUDE and Dole suing us for BANANAS!*, it's become even more difficult for documentary filmmakers to defend ourselves and continue to make non-fiction stories about those who have been wronged. Despite all of Doleâs effort to halt our film, to date we have screened at over 50 festivals worldwide and sold the film to over 10 countries for television and theatrical exhibition."
Directed by investigative journalist Fredrik Gertten, BANANAS!* focuses on a landmark and highly controversial legal case pitting a dozen Nicaraguan plantation workers against Dole Food Corporation and its alleged use of a banned pesticide with a probable link to generations of sterilized workers. Juan "Accidentes" Dominguez, a Los Angeles-based personal injury attorney, leads the charge in this classic David vs. Goliath story, at times both infuriating and inspirational, of workers and their families as well as the culture of global, multinational business. Cameras inside the court and interviews with Dominguez and the plaintiffs take the audience directly to the story.
Experts and companies all over the world have followed this case. If Dominguez is successful, it could rock the economic foundations of Dole and would open the US courts to other global victims of US-based multinationals. It would represent a new day in international justice and allow for new opportunities for many other cases of a similar nature.
For more information on the screening and the history of the film, please go directly to the film website at www.bananasthemovie.com
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LocationDowntown Independent
251 South Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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