In August I reviewed The Cove, a harrowing documentary about the annual slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Unsurprisingly, the film caused quite a stir in the animal-activist, marine conservation and environmentalist communities. But that wasn't enough to stop the organization of twenty-six fishermen who run the dolphin and while-killing operation — the villains in the movie, if you will. They kept on doing what they were doing.
This group then went so far as to attempt to prohibit The Cove from being shown for the first time in Japan at the Tokyo International Film Festival this week. Thankfully, their efforts failed, and director Louie Psihoyos has pledged that if the film gets picked up for distribution in Japan, he will donate all proceeds to the town of Taiji — as long as they suspend the yearly dolphin slaughter, of course.
Many are nervous as to whether or not there will be any protests at tomorrow's sold-out screening — even the festival's organizers admit to being wary about what's going to go down before the curtain rises. I have a feeling that only good things will come from The Cove's inclusion in the TIFF lineup. As is made clear in the film, the vast, vast majority of Japanese citizens do not eat dolphin meat and have no idea about what is transpiring in the small coastal village. Therefore, I'm hopeful that even if The Cove is never shown again in Japan, the single screening will still have a big enough impact on those who see it that things change for the better for the marine life in the area (not to mention those in grave danger of mercury poisoning from unknowingly eating mislabeled dolphin meat). Fingers crossed that the Japanese media run with the story after tomorrow…
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Posted on October 20, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Here’s hoping for the best!