Bring The Fisherman and the Banker to the Wagher Community

My name is Sheena Sumaria, and I’m the director of The Fisherman and the Banker , an independent documentary about the Wagher fishing community in Gujarat, India, and their decade-long fight to protect their livelihoods and environment from a coal-fired power plant funded by the World Bank Group. Their grassroots struggle reached the U.S. Supreme Court, making history and reshaping conversations about the immunity of international organisations and environmental justice.

Now, I want to bring this story back to where it began: to the Wagher community itself. Most members of the community have never been to a cinema or watched a feature film, let alone seen their lives and achievements portrayed on screen. These community screenings will allow them to come together, to process what is happening, see their resilience celebrated, and reflect on their place in a much larger narrative.

The funds raised will be used to:

• Organise a series of community screenings with a large screen and sound system for up to 400 attendees at a time.

• Dub the English parts of the film into Gujarati so it’s fully accessible to everyone.

• Arrange transportation to bring community members from their various coastal settlements to the events.

• Refreshments and snacks for the community during the screening.

• Enable the director to personally present the film to the community and document its reception.

Why This Matters

This screening is about more than just watching a film—it’s about the power of storytelling and cinema to bear witness and provide testimony. For the Wagher community, whose culture is rooted in oral traditions of storytelling, songs, and poetry, this event offers another way to reflect on their lives and struggles.

At a time when they face persecution as a minority community, and industrial development threatens their way of life, this event will provide a rare opportunity for solidarity and pride. By seeing their fight depicted on the big screen, the Wagher community can better understand the global impact of their struggle and find inspiration for the challenges ahead.