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DOCUMENTARY

1983

78' – 16 mm – Color – Israel, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland

Pineapple

One day, when I opened my refrigerator, I looked closely at a can of pineapple. It had been “made in the Philippines”, “packaged in Honolulu”, “distributed in San Francisco”, and the label “printed in Japan”. This was a concrete illustration of the multinational economy… Pineapple is a little like House: a microcosm that allows me to tell a story and deal with the issue of the Third World.

Amos Gitai


In its formal construction, it is an arousing challenge to conventional documentary modes. Importantly, the success of the exposé is intimately connected to the challenge of its form. From the first interview with a Dole Corporation agronomist, framed asymmetrically in an armchair, redundantly illustrating his poolside lecture with a still-life of tropical fruit, to the concluding detail of labeling machinery receding into the middle distance of the frame, it is apparent that Pineapple is about much more than storytelling, observation or explanation. Its considerable power arises not through the prevailing forms of investigative journalism, cinéverité observation or even agitprop, but through challenging the claims of veracity, transparency and objectivity made for these modes of film-making by their supporters.

David Lusted, Framework, n°29, 1985


CREDITS

Cinematography Nurith Aviv

Editing Juliana Sanchez

Sound Kevin Gallagher


Production Les Films d’Ici, FR3, CNC (France), A.G. Productions (Israel), TV1 (Sweden), Ikon (The Netherlands), TV2 (Finland)

One day, when I opened my refrigerator, I looked closely at a can of pineapple. It had been “made in the Philippines”, “packaged in Honolulu”, “distributed in San Francisco”, and the label “printed in Japan”. This was a concrete illustration of the multinational economy… Pineapple is a little like House: a microcosm that allows me to tell a story and deal with the issue of the Third World.

Amos Gitai


In its formal construction, it is an arousing challenge to conventional documentary modes. Importantly, the success of the exposé is intimately connected to the challenge of its form. From the first interview with a Dole Corporation agronomist, framed asymmetrically in an armchair, redundantly illustrating his poolside lecture with a still-life of tropical fruit, to the concluding detail of labeling machinery receding into the middle distance of the frame, it is apparent that Pineapple is about much more than storytelling, observation or explanation. Its considerable power arises not through the prevailing forms of investigative journalism, cinéverité observation or even agitprop, but through challenging the claims of veracity, transparency and objectivity made for these modes of film-making by their supporters.

David Lusted, Framework, n°29, 1985


CREDITS

Cinematography Nurith Aviv

Editing Juliana Sanchez

Sound Kevin Gallagher

Production Les Films d’Ici, FR3, CNC (France), A.G. Productions (Israel), TV1 (Sweden), Ikon (The Netherlands), TV2 (Finland)


SALES / DISTRIBUTION

AGAV FILMS

6, cour Berard. 75004 Paris – France

+33 (0)1 42 40 48 45

agav@amosgitai.com

SALES / DISTRIBUTION

AGAV FILMS

6, cour Berard. 75004 Paris

France

+33 (0)1 42 40 48 45

agav@amosgitai.com

AGAV FILMS
6, cour Berard. 75004 Paris – France
+33 (0)1 42 40 48 45
agav@amosgitai.com

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