The Fisherman and the Banker: aesthetically powerful and ethically chilling

It’s odd that, given the current state of things, online lists of ‘films that make you cry’ rarely include political documentaries. Maybe to be seen crying at such a film would betray a shameful naivete (‘didn’t they know the World Bank is evil? What a chump!’) or maybe people don’t watch these films to cry but to be inspired or relieved that someone else, somewhere else is fighting for justice (even if they don’t win). Probably, in 2024, English-speaking audiences watching films about Indian fishers taking the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to court over the environmental impact of a coal-fired power plant are more likely to feel jaded than heartbroken.

Not all ‘David vs Goliath’ films are moving, some are plain didactic, but The Fisherman and the Banker is aesthetically powerful as well as ethically chilling. While the convergence of poetics and politics isn’t always a good thing, when they come together here the long shots of the sea and the shore, filmed from a distance, give us a chance to take in the horrible details. The film would have been even more evocative with more of these moments but productivity reigns supreme in filmmaking as well as power plants and the story is (too) quickly resumed.

The Wagher community’s battle ultimately lost on appeal in 2022 but their struggle resulted in the legal precedent that international organisations could be sued in U.S. federal courts, which is a significant victory. Despite their failure to win and the fact that we all know how bad the World Bank and how much we already know about the horrific impact of industrialisation on rural communities and the environment, films that direct our attention to specific battles, places and people enlarge our sense of the world and make our awareness less theoretical and more real. So, even if you don’t cry, this film will make you feel something, even if it’s something you already know.