(JP) Town angry after movie wins Oscar

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http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201003080235.html

 

Town angry after movie wins Oscar

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

 

2010/03/09

 

" The Cove, " an examination of a bloody dolphin hunt, won the Academy Award for

best documentary feature Sunday to the anger and dismay of residents of the

coastal community where the film was made.

 

Directed by Louie Psihoyos, the controversial U.S. film was shot in the coastal

town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

 

The filmmaker employed hidden cameras and microphones because the local fishing

cooperative would not allow the camera crew access to the cove where the

dolphins were slaughtered.

 

Local residents were incensed that their faces were filmed without approval

while hidden footage was taken of dolphins being killed.

 

A 35-year-old homemaker whose grandfather had worked on a whaling ship said: " We

have eaten whale and dolphin meat for generations. I don't understand why the

film singles out the dolphin hunt for such a negative reaction. I cannot believe

it received an Oscar. "

 

Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen and the local fishing cooperative issued a statement

Monday morning that said: " There are elements in the movie that make false

assertions not based on any scientific evidence as though it were the truth. It

is important to possess a spirit of mutual respect after understanding the long

traditions and actual circumstances surrounding the dietary culture of a

region. "

 

Officials of the local fishing cooperative claim that some assertions in the

movie are false, including one that dolphin meat was being sold as whale meat to

hide the fact it was contaminated with mercury.

 

While there are plans to show the movie at about 20 theaters in Japan this

summer, lawyers for the Taiji town hall and fishing cooperative said they would

lobby for a cancellation.

 

Town officials demanded that the movie not be shown at the Tokyo International

Film Festival last fall, but organizers went ahead with one showing.

 

Officials with Unplugged Inc., the distributor of " The Cove, " said changes would

be made before the movie is screened in Japan. The faces of local residents

would be scrambled and subtitles added at the end of the movie saying there are

differences in studies about mercury levels and that Taiji town was opposed to

elements of the movie.

 

Tokiya Nitta, a lecturer at the School of Marine Science and Technology at Tokai

University who has studied the history of dolphin hunting along the Izu

Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture, said the movie could strengthen the opinions

of opponents of the practice.

 

" In Japan, there is a history of hunting the dolphins with feelings of gratitude

and respect because it helped the Japanese when they were faced with famine

because of the war, " Nitta said. " However, foreigners appear to only focus on

the cruel reality of the hunt. "

 

Daisuke Onitsuka, a professor of American studies at Shizuoka Eiwa Gakuin

University, said the visual impact of the movie was likely a major factor behind

the winning of the Oscar.

 

" While it undoubtedly is a propaganda movie, I believe that overseas it is not

the arguments of the movie that are being accepted, but the clash with the Taiji

fishing cooperative and town officials that was viewed as being interesting, "

Onitsuka said. " The main reason it was praised was the visual impact produced

through the use of hidden cameras. "