What Documentary Filmmakers and Journalists Can Learn From Each Other

By: Lene Bech Sillesen | CJR

Harnessing the power of film to tell investigative stories can be risky for documentary film producers. In 2009, the documentary Bananas! took a critical look at a Dole Food banana plantation, where pesticide use was allegedly making workers sterile. Dole sued filmmaker Fredrik Gertten for defamation and sought to ban further showing of the film, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.