Bananas!* (2009)

Juan "Accidentes" Dominguez is on his biggest case ever. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility.

Director:

Fredrik Gertten

Stars:

Byron Rosales Romero, Juan J. Dominguez, Duane Miller

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Byron Rosales Romero	...	Himself
Juan J. Dominguez	...	Himself
Duane Miller	...	Himself
Rick McKnight	...	Himself
David Delorenzo	...	Himself
Mercedes Del Carmen Romero	...	Herself

Storyline

Juan "Accidentes" Dominguez is on his biggest case ever. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility.

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Plot Keywords:

worker | sterility | nicaraguan | pesticide | banana | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Crime | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Sweden Denmark

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

9 October 2009 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Banany!

Company Credits

Production Co:

WG Film, Magic Hour Films ApS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 87 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color Color (HD)

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Big Boys Gone Bananas!* (2011)

User Reviews

A good courtroom "docu-fiction" on workers'exploitation in banana plantations

I saw the documentary at a docu-fiction festival that is screened every year in my city and I also watched it with my kids (10+).

The documentary is very good in terms of actions, suspense and overall story. It is very enjoyable to watch.

It describes the bad practice of banana production in the 70s and possibly later in the great plantations of Dole and the like. Airplanes sprayed chemicals on plantations on plants, fruits, and ... workers. Those are basically drenched by the chemicals. Unsurprisingly they developed all sorts of illnesses.

The documentary produced some good evidence (such as letters) that pesticides were actually sprayed on people. Possibly also that this massive use of pesticides continued even after those chemicals were banned in the U.S. and the interviews with the Dole people and the farmers are very good (no matter on whose side you are standing one).

The factual accuracy may be a bit shaky and sometimes the romancing of the story gets in the way. For example there is not a recap of the facts by the lawyer, who is the main character of the movies. It is a "to say and not say", "we will discover in the court", etc. Albeit they might have wanted to avoid legal challenges by Dole, they could have been more precise. This is OK for legal thriller, a bit less for the documentary.

At the end of the day, the kids liked it, they found it an interesting story and the main message went through.