Quantcast Vegetarian StarThe Cove Japan

“The Cove” Finally Appears In Japan Theatres

Written by Vegetarian Star on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 in Animal Issues, Film & TV.

A woman reads a brochure for the movie The Cove at a theatre in Tokyo July 3, 2010. Protesters gathered at the Japanese opening of The Cove , a controversial Oscar-winning documentary about a grisly annual dolphin hunt. Dozens of polices and some 50 people, both for and against the screening, faced off in front of a theatre in Tokyo's Shibuya district on Saturday. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ANIMALS ENTERTAINMENT)

After several cancellations in several cities, the Oscar winning documentary on the killing of dolphins on the island of Taiji, The Cove, finally debuted in some Japanese theatres.

According to the New York Times, although opposition was still strong during the showings, movie goers welcomed the education, citing they knew nothing of dolphin hunting and that the Japanese had a right to know such things.

While many of the dolphins captured on the island are killed and sold as unhealthy, mercury laden meat, some are taken to marine parks. The movie prompted one famous dolphin broker, Chris Porter, known as the “darth vador” by animal rights activists, to release his 17 dolphins and find a new profession.

Possibly Related Posts:


The_Cove_2009_promo_image

The Cove is set for screening in Japan, during the 22nd annual Tokyo International Film Festival from October 18-26.

The film, which portrays the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan and was originally not okayed for screening (wonder why…), but this year’s theme is Action For Earth 2009, so film officials reversed their decision with the caveat that they are not liable for any disputes arising from the screening.

The hunt for dolphins is not only cruel to animals, but to the market where dolphin meat is sold and consumed.

Dolphin meat contains some of the highest levels of mercury, 5000 more times, than allowed by Japanese law.

That’s more than enough to get you a stay home from work sick pass like Jeremy Piven did.

Since the film’s initial screening and the controversy it sparked, activity in the area where Taiji fisherman captured the dolphins has been relatively quiet.

Will the screening in Japan put even more pressure on the fisherman and buyers to stop this activity for good?

via treehugger.com

Possibly Related Posts:


The Cove Hits Select Theatres Today

Written by Vegetarian Star on Friday, July 31st, 2009 in Animal Issues, Film & TV.

The_Cove_2009_promo_image

If you’re in the New York or Los Angeles area, you have the opportunity to see the breathtaking documentary, The Cove this weekend.

The Cove covers the annual killing of over 2,500 dolphins in a cove at Japan’s Taiji, Wakayama.

Directed by former National Geographic photographer Louis Psihoyos, the documentary was filmed secretly in 2007 using underwater microphones and hidden cameras disguised as ocean rocks.

It all started when former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, who captured dolphins in the same cove during the 1960s for the movie Flipper, started to realize that dolphins were intelligent creatures that weren’t being served justly when held in captivity.

Eventually, O’Barry joined forces with Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society to travel to Japan and expose the bloody industry of dolphin meat.

Visit the official website of The Cove and learn more about what you can do to help dolphins, both in captivity and those being slaughtered for meat.

Possibly Related Posts: