An explosive new documentary, Bananas!*, examines global food politics by following the crusade of lawyer Juan J. Dominguez, as he fights for the rights of thousands of banana plantation workers in Nicaragua who have been made sterile from exposure to the banned pesticide DBCP (Dibromo Chloropropane).
This toxic chemical has been shown to cause cancer in animals, sterility in humans, and has been banned in most of the Americas since 1977. The film follows Dominguez as he fights the behemoth Dole Company for restitution for the abused Nicaraguan workers in the US courts.
The Dole Food Company is now attempting to sue the filmmakers and producers, and has unsuccessfully attempted to block screenings of the movie at the Los Angeles Film Festival earlier this year. WG Film, Fredrik Gertten and Margarete Jangård, the creators of Bananas!*, have retained a First Amendment rights lawyer to fight back against the multinational giant Dole. The corporation’s lawsuit claims that the film is defamatory and false toward Dole Food. Bananas!* is definitely a movie that the Dole Corporation does not want you to see. It is presently scheduled for wide release this October.
How sad that Juan drives a Ferrari and is losing his bar license for fraud and the poor Nicaraguan workers get nothing.
Nicaragua must be a tough place to live (remember Reagan and the Contra scandal?) I sponsor a young girl through CCF and they are dirt poor–