To: Members in “The Cove” – Save Japan Dolphins
UPDATE: Sept.1 Taiji events cancelled
Received August 20, 2010
For several important reasons, we have decided to cancel our plans in Taiji, Japan for Sept. 1st (the first day of the annual dolphin slaughter.)
Most importantly, we received word that an extreme nationalist group known to be violent is set to confront us in Taiji. Our work in Japan has never been about physical confrontation. Since “The Cove” premiered in theaters earlier this Summer, we believe we are making progress by bringing the truth to the people of Japan about the dolphin slaughter and about mercury-poisoned dolphin meat in markets. We will not play the game that the nationalist groups want us to play – we will not have it become “us versus them.”… The militant nationalist groups may gather as they like in Taiji; we will be elsewhere in Japan, talking to the media, explaining the problem, and making sure the public understands that we are not there to fight, but to work together.
The Japanese will finally hear about this movie now.
Will be interesting to see what public reaction there is. So far, it’s been a ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ approach.
The Cove wins best documentary March 7, 2010.
The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.
The Cove is a 2009 Academy Award winning American documentary film about the annual killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama, in Japan. The film highlights that the number of dolphins killed is several times greater than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic, and claims that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year. The migrating dolphins are herded into a hidden cove where they are netted and killed by means of spears and knives over the side of small fishing boats.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan’s most recent progress report 1,569 cetaceans in Taiji were killed during the 2007 season, including methods other than drive hunting. Only 1,239 cetaceans were killed by drive hunting. A total of 13,080 cetaceans were killed throughout Japan in 2007.
The film was directed by former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, and portions were filmed secretly during 2007 using underwater microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks.
The documentary won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. It was selected out of the 879 submissions in the category.
On March 7, 2010 The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.
第８２回アカデミー賞の長編ドキュメンタリー賞は、和歌山県太地町のイルカ漁を隠し撮りした米映画「ザ・コーヴ」が受賞した。
オスカーを受賞した製作陣は「みんなを啓蒙することができました。人類全体のインスピレーションになりました」と喜びの言葉を述べた
