External Screening at Curzon Soho: Big Boys Gone Bananas!*

Tickets: Book online on the Curzon’s website.

What will a big corporation do in order to protect its brand? Swedish filmmaker Fredrik Gertten personally experienced how far one was prepared to go in the aftermath of releasing his previous film Bananas!*. That first documentary follows the lawsuit that 12 Nicaraguan plantation workers successfully brought against the fruit giant Dole Food Company. Just before Gertten left Sweden to attend the world premier of his film at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival, the film is mysteriously removed from competition.

Big Boys Gone Bananas!* is about what happened next, Gertten captured the entire process of corporate bullying and media spin – from Dole attacking the producers with a defamation lawsuit, to media-control and PR-spin. It is a personal story documenting what happened to Gertten and his company as well as how the livelihood of documentary filmmakers can be easily put into jeopardy. This powerful film reveals precisely how a multinational will stop at nothing to get its way – freedom of speech is at stake.

The screening at Curzon Soho will be followed by a Q&A with director Fredrik Gertten. Tim Burt, Managing Director of StockWell, which he joined from Brunswick, the international advisory firm, where he oversaw sectors including media, technology and automotive will also be present.

Director: Fredrik Gertten
Duration: 90′
Year: 2011