Project Detail

The Fisherman and the Banker

Synopsis

Filmed over a period of 10 years, this is the story of how a group of courageous fishermen in India’s Gulf of Kutch join forces with an NGO in Washington, DC to take on one of the world’s most powerful institutions, the World Bank Group.
For years, the fishermen of the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat and their social movement MASS have been battling coal-fired power plants that threaten their livelihoods and traditional way of life by polluting the water and the countryside. Then, in 2015, their fight took an international dimension when US lawyers at EarthRights International took on their case to file the first-ever lawsuit against the World Bank’s private lending arm, the International Finance Corporation. One of the most destructive power plants in the Gulf of Kutch is owned by Indian multinational Tata, who received funding from the IFC. The IFC claims absolute legal immunity but the fisherman challenge this in ever higher courts. In 2018 the case makes its way to the US Supreme Court. Will the fishermen be able to change international law to hold the IFC to account – and save their livelihoods?
Official Selection Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2024 - World premiere

Details

Year
2024
Type of project
Features
Running time
85 min
Format
Digital Cannon 100
Director
Sheena Sumaria
Producer
Sheena Sumaria
Executive Producer
Christopher Hird
Editor
Sheena Sumaria
Sound
Atul Landjudkar

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

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