The Big Banana exposes multinational corporation culpability in the land grab of Africa which makes us reconsider where we get our fruit from. Corruption, rape and miscarriage of justice are all denounced in Cell 512, a family drama set in contemporary Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

THE BIG BANANA

Banned in Cameroon, The Big Banana illustrates the poor working conditions in banana plantations and exposes the adverse impact on the people of a corporatocracy government that affords super profits for corporations at the expense of the local population.

The Big Banana outlines land grabbing tactics by company Plantation du Haut Penja (PHP) and the ensuing devastation for communities: poverty, pollution, and sickness from pesticides. Bieleu, who spent two years filming residents in the remote countryside of Cameroon also features local cooperatives resisting the devastation through business alliances with fair trade organizations. By Franck Bieleu, Cameroon, 2011, 85min, Documentary in French with English subtitles.

CELL 512

A spoiled young man makes a bet with his friends: riding a motorbike at a brisk pace without brakes or lights for a week, without being worried. He will be hit by Honorine, a woman driving her car. She will end up in jail. Should corruption, rape and denial of justice be the lot of those without financial means to defend themselves?  By Missa Hebie, 2015, Burkina Faso, Drama, 99 min, French w/ English subtitles.