Louie Psihoyos' "The Cove" Set For Release In Japan

Louie Psihoyos' Oscar-nominated dolphin-documentary "The Cove" has been picked up by a Japanese distributor and now is set for release in the country despite the controversy it already has stirred up, says Indie Wire.

According to Indie Wire: The Works International has announced the acquisition of Louie Psihoyos’s Academy Award-nominated documentary “The Cove” by Japanese distributor Medallion Media. Medallion is planning a tentative release date of April 2010 in Japan.

Until now, Japanese distributors have shied away from the documentary, which uncovers dolphin slaughtering in a Japanese village, and was the source of significant controversy in the country when it was included in the line-up of the 2009 Tokyo Film Festival.

Fishermen the town of Taiji, Japan--who are the subject of the documentary--took legal action against its potential screening at the Tokyo Film Festival last year. However, their efforts were to no avail. The film was a hit, selling out within hours and forcing a second screening to be organized.

The Works International said in their press release: “Most Japanese are unaware of the annual dolphin cull that takes place in Taiji and also the significant risks of mercury poisoning from the eating of dolphin meat, which the film so effectively exposes. In spite of continued opposition from the Taiji fishermen, Medallion Media recognized there were many people keen to see the film.”

The film centers on an elite team of adrenalin junkies, filmmakers and free divers led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry as they embark on a covert mission to expose the international dolphin capturing trade in the town of Taiji. While there, they uncover more than they bargained for.

I watched the film about a month ago, and I have told everyone I can that they should see it. The extent that the filmmakers went to get the footage is remarkable, and the images they captured are indescribable. In my opinion, it should be the hands-down winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

"The Cove": You Have to See This Movie

The Cove utilizes equipment and tactics never previously used by filmmakers in order to obtain footage that the Japanese government refused to allow the film crew to capture. It's amazing to watch what these filmmakers went out and did. They put their lives on the line to expose something that is really unbelievable and sadly, still goes on today.

The movie follows former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry's quest to document the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. In the 1960s, O'Barry captured and trained the five wild dolphins who would play the role of "Flipper" in the hit television series of the same name. This pop-culture phenomenon fueled widespread public adoration of dolphins. It was when one of the dolphins committed a form of suicide in his arms, closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate, that O'Barry came to see it as a curse not a blessing.

The director Louie Psihoyos and O'Barry met at a marine conference where O'Barry was scheduled to be a keynote speaker. When the event's sponsor, Sea World, suddenly removed O'Barry from the event Psihoyos was curious to know why. O'Barry informed Psihoyos of his mission against the captivity industry.

In particular, O'Barry mentioned Taiji where dolphin drive hunting is an annual tradition taking place between September and March. When the two made a trip to Japan Psihoyos found that "the cove" was actually a National Park that the government had fenced off and prohibited the public from venturing into. Together O'Barry, Psihoyos, and a specially selected film crew devised a plan to get the annual killing on camera.

What the team uncovered was an industry making over 2 billion dollars a year on captured cetaceans, government corruption, a human health hazard due to mercury poisoning, and a massive killing of mammals that goes virtually unnoticed by most of the world.

It's only an hour and 32 minutes long. Get your hands on it and watch it. It's a truly great film.