【影片簡介】正面蕉瘋 Big Boys Gone Bananas!*
【正義思辨】篇 Ways to Justice
正面蕉瘋
Big Boys Gone Bananas!*
瑞典、丹麥、德國、美國、英國 Sweden - Denmark - Germany - USA - UK︱2011︱86 min︱Fredrik GERTTEN
2012 日舞影展國際紀錄片競賽單元評審團大獎提名
Grand Jury Prize Nomination, Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition
2011 阿姆斯特丹紀錄片國際電影節
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
二○○九年洛杉磯影展前夕，瑞典導演葛登和他的製片人收到從美國寄來的存證信函，他們即將首映的紀錄片《香蕉啟示錄》（Bananas!* ）引起了美國跨國水果集團都樂（Dole）的注意。由於該片揭發都樂在中南美洲的香蕉農地使用有毒性的廉價農藥，對當地農工們的健康造成嚴重傷害，都樂要求他們禁播此片，否則將對導演等人提出扭曲事實、誹謗公司名譽等控訴。
同時，都樂的影響力也在各界啟動，不但有媒體在影片首映前就批判影片內容不實，連洛杉磯影展也被迫將影片從正式競賽中剔除，改在偏遠的場地播放，更在影片放映前宣讀申明稿，與導演劃清界線。影片成功放映之後，都樂正式向電影公司提告，不甘示弱的導演運用他所有的資源奮力反擊，連瑞典國會都被牽扯進來。
本片是《香蕉啟示錄》的續篇，雖然訴說的同樣是小蝦米對抗大鯨魚的故事，但卻從導演親身經歷向外開展，牽涉的議題比《香蕉啟示錄》更廣，除了食品安全、企業良心、司法與媒體正義，最重要的是揭示：即使在號稱「最講求民主」的美國，言論自由也是如此地脆弱。葛登導演有幸得到瑞典民眾及政府的全力支持，倘若同樣的事件發生在香港，是否會有相同的結局？
What is a big corporation capable of doing in order to protect its brand? Swedish documentary filmmaker Fredrik GERTTEN experienced this personally. His previous film Bananas!* recounts the lawsuit that 12 Nicaraguan plantation workers successfully brought against the fruit giant Dole Food Company. In April 2009, as GERTTEN gets ready for the world premiere of his film at the Los Angeles Fim Festival, he receives a strange message: the festival has decided to remove Bananas!* from competition. Then, a scathing, controversial and misinformed article about the film appears on the cover of the Los Angeles Business Journal a week before the premiere. And subsequently, GERTTEN receives a letter from Dole’s attorneys threatening legal action if the film is shown at this festival and to cease and desist.
What follows is an unparalleled story that GERTTEN captured on film. He filmed this entire process of corporate bullying and media spin - from DOLE attacking the producers with a defamation lawsuit, utilizing scare tactics, to media-control and PR-spin. Big Boys Gone Bananas!* can be seen as a thriller and a cautionary tale. But, mostly this is a personal story about what happened to GERTTEN, a documentary filmmaker, and 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. As Dole’s public relations company puts it, “It is easier to cope with a bad conscience than a bad reputation”.