Standing ovations and some tears

Fredrik Gertten, Margarete Jangard, Lincoln BandlowNever been to Park City before, always heard about it. So arriving in this remote mountain resort was quite confusing at first. How can this place host one of the world's most important film festivals? After only a few days, now that the streets and bars are crowded, I understand it better. Everybody is here, and if you're lucky you'll bump into celebrities on a slippery, snowy street.

Many great filmmakers are presenting their work here at Sundance. So you never know how your own film will be recieved. Arriving at the Prospector theatre for the very first U.S. screening of BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*, I was a bit nervous. Yet the festival is so professional, you really feel welcome and safe. Projection and sound are perfect. Respect!

When my film was starting to roll I could finally lean back and enjoy it. And the audience did so, too. They were laughing. Some booed, upset by the big boys' behavior...

I've been to many film festivals, but I think I've never experienced a better audience, or a better reception of a film I had done. It's a strong feeling.

Sundance premiere of BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*

The standing ovations were crazy. How do you handle that? Well, yes, I decided to just enjoy. It has been such a long journey to do this film. It has been hard to finance. Love will not pay the bills, but it makes us stronger.

Meanwhile more Kickstarter pledges are coming in. After 12 days, we've already received half of what we need to raise. We lost a huge amount of time and money in the fight against Dole. So every single dollar is important to us, as is knowing that supporters will also help us to get the new film out there.

After the screening, an American journalist told a Swedish radio reporter:

"I was crying. The support the filmmakers got from Sweden – so beautiful. And we American journalists always know who pays our salaries. We could never go against the sponsors of our media."

The key people behind BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*The locals here in Park City give us loads of love and support. They cheer us. I love that. The reception here at Sundance is a good indication that this film will travel the world. And now people will also look out for my previous film BANANAS!* which they can find on Netflix, iTunes, Distrify, and many other platforms. Finally, the story I wanted to tell orginially is reaching people now: the very story of the banana workers who paid with their health for giving us a banana a day.

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Showing 16 reactions


@mriceguy mentioned @bananasmovie link to this page. 2012-01-25 06:22:15 +0100
Standing ovations and some tears - Big Boys Gone Bananas!* http://t.co/xb0ldQSy via @bananasmovie
olav larsson commented 2012-01-25 04:58:26 +0100
I truly loved this show. How often do you get to see a documentary that becomes a thriller. In this case it was David trying to stand up against the mighty Goliath. It was not until the very end that the Goliath showed that it was not about right or wrong but instead their fear losing $’s.
Olle Larsson
@KatjaBrigge tweeted link to this page. 2012-01-24 09:32:34 +0100
Standing ovations & some tears — "Big Boys Gone Bananas!*" — http://t.co/uDfGbnSH via @bananasmovie #FredrikGertten #BananasMovie #Sundance
@SwedishFilm tweeted link to this page. 2012-01-24 08:02:55 +0100
Standing ovations & some tears — "Big Boys Gone Bananas!*" — http://t.co/uDfGbnSH via @bananasmovie #FredrikGertten #BananasMovie #Sundance
@SusanaNakatani mentioned @bananasmovie link to this page. 2012-01-23 22:00:09 +0100
RT @bananasmovie "We American journalists know who pays our salaries.We could never go against sponsors of our media" http://t.co/qaT53PWQ
@macks retweeted 2012-01-23 21:04:20 +0100
RT @svtdokumentar: Fredrik Gertten bloggar från Sundance om storartat mottagande för "Big boys..." Go, go! http://t.co/kInOvRHE
@rhondawinter mentioned @bananasmovie link to this page. 2012-01-23 20:51:48 +0100
Standing ovations & some tears — "Big Boys Gone Bananas!*" — http://t.co/uDfGbnSH via @bananasmovie #FredrikGertten #BananasMovie #Sundance
@DocGeeks mentioned @bananasmovie link to this page. 2012-01-23 16:15:56 +0100
RT @FredrikGertten A little blogpost from #sundance http://t.co/9ThBbOMY (Documentary film maker of @bananasmovie)
@wgfilm retweeted 2012-01-23 15:43:46 +0100
RT @svtdokumentar: Fredrik Gertten bloggar från Sundance om storartat mottagande för "Big boys..." Go, go! http://t.co/kInOvRHE
@followthethings tweeted link to this page. 2012-01-23 15:24:51 +0100
"The support the filmmakers got from Sweden – so beautiful. ... We could never go against the sponsors of our media" http://t.co/SDayD7oO
@snobojohan retweeted @bananasmovie 2012-01-23 14:58:58 +0100
"We American journalists always know who pays our salaries. We could never go against the sponsors of our media." http://t.co/rhQDoGXg
@bananasmovie tweeted link to this page. 2012-01-23 14:41:36 +0100
RT @svtdokumentar: Fredrik Gertten bloggar från Sundance om storartat mottagande för "Big boys..." Go, go! http://t.co/kInOvRHE
@docloungemalmo tweeted link to this page. 2012-01-23 14:40:25 +0100
Fredrik Gertten bloggar från Sundance om storartat mottagande för "Big boys..." Go, go! http://t.co/91WKh2fq
@petralundin retweeted @bananasmovie 2012-01-23 14:03:33 +0100
"We American journalists always know who pays our salaries. We could never go against the sponsors of our media." http://t.co/rhQDoGXg
@svtdokumentar tweeted link to this page. 2012-01-23 13:36:12 +0100
Fredrik Gertten bloggar från Sundance om storartat mottagande för "Big boys..." Go, go! http://t.co/91WKh2fq
@kempas retweeted @bananasmovie 2012-01-23 13:30:26 +0100
"We American journalists always know who pays our salaries. We could never go against the sponsors of our media." http://t.co/rhQDoGXg
BANANAS!* posted about Standing ovations and some tears on BANANAS!*'s Facebook page 2012-01-23 13:20:00 +0100
"We American journalists always knows who pays our salaries. We could never go against the sponsors of our media."
The true story about a Swedish filmmaker and a banana corporation. Dirty tricks, lawsuits, manipulation, and the price of free speech.

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