NEWS: Filmmaker Goes Bananas!* After Victory

Filmmaker Fredrick Gertten is celebrating a court victory over Dole.

Holding that the film Bananas!*, a “documentary on the topic of (Dole’s) treatment of its workers and use of pesticides” was an exercise of the “right of free speech,” a Los Angeles Superior Court has granted an anti-SLAPP motion filed by Swedish filmmakers Fredrik Gertten, Margarete Jangàrd and their production company WG Film, and struck the defamation complaint filed by Dole Food Company, Inc.

In addition to striking the lawsuit with prejudice, the Court ordered Dole to pay attorneys fees and costs in the amount of $199,959.25. This ruling comes over one year after the filmmakers filed their anti-SLAPP (which stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) and upholds the filmmakers’ contentions that Dole’s lawsuit had no merit.

“We are extremely happy and relieved with the Court’s ruling after this year-long struggle” said director Fredrik Gertten. “Corporations such as Dole must respect freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press. These conglomerates have unlimited resources available to them to get their messages out, while independent filmmakers, who are under attack while trying to uncover the truth, have very limited means to defend ourselves.”

Bananas!* is the non-fiction film centering on the issues surrounding the treatment of banana workers in Nicaragua, and covers one of the many lawsuits filed by these workers against Dole and other companies regarding the adverse health effects suffered as a result of the use of the pesticide DBCP in banana fields.

The film was screened in June 2009 at the Los Angeles Film Festival out of competition to sold out audiences even after Dole had tried to stop its screenings. The film has gone on to win awards and accolades and to play to sold out audiences at over 100 film festivals throughout the world including the Berlin International Film Festival this past January. In addition, distribution rights have been sold to more than 15 countries worldwide. In the UK, the film was released by Dogwoof on 12th July 2010.