The Fisherman and the Banker is a modern-day David and Goliath tale, chronicling a fishing community in India’s Gulf of Kutch as they take on the World Bank’s private lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for funding a coal-fired power plant that threatens their way of life. Filmed over a decade, the documentary captures the fishermen’s fight against industrial encroachment and their alliance with US lawyers to file a groundbreaking lawsuit, which reaches the US Supreme Court in 2018. With a poetic and observational lens, the film explores their legal battle and profound bond with the environment, posing a powerful question: can the resilience of a community rewrite the rules of global power—or will the might of corporations and institutions crush their fight for justice?
“Compelling…witnesses an astonishing fight for justice against all odds”
– The Guardian
“Moving and necessary. A David and Goliath story for an age that desperately needs such stories, on our screens and in our hearts, to revive hope that justice is not doomed in the face of finance “
– Yanis Varoufakis
The film was nominated for best feature film at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Sheena Sumaria.
Sheena Sumaria, a British-Gujarati documentary filmmaker, transitioned from a career in international development to filmmaking. With degrees in Economics and Development Studies from Cambridge and SOAS, her passion for social justice drives her work. She began with “Still Standing,” highlighting life in Medellin’s slums, followed by films on the Chilean student uprising and the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. Her short films address various social issues, including Brexit and homelessness.
