BANANAS!
Year: 2009
UK: Dogwoof Pictures
Cast: Byron Rosales Romero, Juan J Dominguez, Duane Miller, Rick McKnight, David Delorenzo, Mercedes Del Carmen Romero
Director: Fredrik Gertten
Country: Sweden
Language: Swedish (English subtitles)
UK: 87 mins
UK Certificate: NC
UK Release Date: 16 April 2010 (Limited Release)
UK Distributor
ICA
Synopsis
For years litigations have built up against Dole, the food multinational probably best known for providing millions of us with bananas every day. Focusing on one case brought by unorthodox attorney Juan Dominguez, BANANAS! highlights the plight of the company's workers in Nicaragua, Central America, who have been poisoned by a pesticide that causes liver and kidney damage and sterility - a pesticide which has been illegal in the US for almost 40 years!
This documentary exposes a great deal about the global politics of food production and leaves us with more questions than answers, especially as the film was pulled from competition in the LA Film Festival after Dole protested.