Bananas!* documentary filmmaker fires back at Dole

By Eriq Gardner

The Swedish filmmakers behind that hard-hitting documentary called "Bananas!*" are looking to peel back Dole Food Company's efforts to squash the film.

They have filed a SLAPP motion and a cross complaint against Dole for interfering with the documentarians' expression of free speech and the film's appearance at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June.

"Bananas!*" covers the plight of Nicaraguan banana laborers who claimed that various companies, including Dole, poisoned them with pesticides. The doc discusses a class action lawsuit against Dole where plaintiffs enjoyed a $2.5 million punitive damages verdict. After "Bananas!*" wrapped production, however, the court threw out the punitive damage award, reduced the compensatory damage award, and sanctioned the attorney representing the plaintiff for fraud.

Dole filed a defamation lawsuit against the makers of "Bananas!*" claiming the filmmakers showed "actual malice" by ignoring the court decision and refusing Dole's pleas to make changes.

Dole also got the LA Film Festival to pull "Bananas!*" from official competition and screen it to the public with a disclaimer.

Now, director Fredrik Gertten has struck back with his own claims against Dole. The plaintiffs want at least $100,000 in damages due to Dole's wrongful interference, which they say resulted in the film not winning the $50,000 prize at the LAFF and enhancing the reputation of the documentary in advance of possible wider distribution. In addition, the plaintiffs say in the SLAPP motion that statements made against Dole weren't defamatory, were literally or substantially true reports of judicial proceedings, and opinions protected under the First Amendment.