"Nature has made me a human so that I can be a human. Humans understand
what's happening around them" - Ibrahim Salilman Manjalia, Kutch fisherman
Impact
Washington DC Impact Screening
16 Apr 2024, Landmark E St Cinema
Fringes of World Bank Spring Meetings
Small Title
"The film was incredibly impactful on all people who saw it, and it has given the advocacy effort around Tata Mundra a momentum that we haven't had in years"
Shannon Marcoux
EarthRights International
Multi-stakeholder audience including CSOs, advocacy groups, the World Bank, the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank, US State Department officials and legal experts
Follow-on advocacy meetings during World Bank Spring Meetings, where the issue of the IFC providing remedy* and compensation to the Kutch fishermen, and other local communities around the world was pushed forward
Panel discussion including local community activist, film protagonist, and legal and advocacy experts
Members of the US State department agreed to mobilise senators to push the IFC to provide fishing communities a remedy
*As a result of the Kutch fishing community's legal case against the International Financial Corporation, IFC, (the arm of the World Bank Group that lent money to finance the Tata Mundra coal-fired power plant), the crisis of accountability at IFC gained additional international attention and broader scrutiny, as did the clash between IFC’s assertions of immunity from suit on the one hand and its role in harming communities like those near the Tata Mundra project and the need for remedy. That prompted the IFC’s Board to request an external expert team to review IFC’s “Environmental and Social Accountability,” which resulted in a comprehensive report issuing extensive recommendations for IFC to address its accountability problem, including creating and implementing a framework for remedial action. This framework is due for completion in 2024. The DC screening of The Fisherman and the Banker has added momentum to the advocacy effort around ensuring that this IFC remedy framework provides adequate remedy harmed communities, such as the Kutch fishing community.
“The Fisherman and the Banker beautifully showcases the dignity of Indian families striving to preserve their way of life, while also exposing just how broken our international systems of accountability and remedy truly are. When people are harmed, they seek justice, but for communities around the world navigating an unfair system and facing powerful corporations and institutions like the World Bank, justice is an unattainable goal. As the World Bank and other institutions around the world decide how to enact robust remedy policies, this film could be a catalyst to finally guarantee remedy for all."