Braking a wall of silence, Spank the Banker uses a mixture of compelling interviews with victims, key journalists and police investigators; plus dramatic, secretly-filmed episodes of bankers caught unawares revealing their activities, and of bank-hired goons repossessing the homes of those defrauded.
Director Samir Mehanovic is justly famous for his visually powerful images and sympathetic ability to get refugees and victims of war to speak on camera. His work is never intrusive or exploitative. Once again, in Spank the Banker, he lets the victims of injustice find their own voice, simultaneously honest and courageous yet always laced with humour and humanity.
Of the victims featured in this film are:
- Sound and lighting masterminds Nikki and Paul Turner, who worked with Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen and the famous Live Aid concert and who have spent a decade fighting Lloyds Bank for justice.
- International hotel businessman Jim McGrory who suffered at the hand of Clydesdale Bank.
- Juliette Mottram and her five children, who were evicted from their family home by Lloyds Bank.
- Neil Mitchell who has been a victim of the RBS infamous Global Restructuring Group
- TV personality Noel Edmonds, who was pushed to the edge of suicide when his £60m business was stolen by HBOS.
The agony of these people and their fight for justice is still ongoing in the year of 2019.