Director Louie Psihoyos, right, accepts the Oscar with producer Fisher Stevens, left, while cast member Richard O’Barry holds up a sign after “The Cove” won best documentary feature during the 82nd Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday night.
REUTERS

'The Cove' wins Oscar for Best Documentary

Monday 08th March, 01:22 PM JST

LOS ANGELES —

‘‘The Cove,’’ a U.S. film about a controversial annual dolphin hunt at a Japanese town, won the best documentary feature at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday in Los Angeles.

Directed by Louie Psihoyos, one of the world’s most prominent still photographers, the film depicts, partly through the use of hidden cameras and microphones, the capture of dolphins by local fishermen in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

After screenings in selected countries such as Japan, Australia and the United States, the documentary provoked criticism against the hunt, while local fishermen defended it as part of a Japanese tradition, saying the practice was not bloodthirsty as they built memorials for the dolphins.

Reacting to the Academy Award, fishermen in Taiji voiced anger, saying they were misleadingly described as ‘‘Japanese mafia.’’ A senior official of the local fisheries cooperative association rejected an interview, saying, ‘‘Whatever we might say, it will just help advertise the movie.’‘

Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen said, ‘‘Dolphin hunting is not an illegal activity. It is necessary to respect each culture’s diet, based on an understanding of regional traditions.’‘

Negotiations are under way with a distributor in Japan, although no release date has been set yet.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 360 Total Comments Show All

Hotbox08 at 10:38 AM JST - 13th March

IMO showing the brutality makes me sicker to the stomach, than hearing that the meat is laced with mercury.

Good point, haoushokuhaki. I agree. There will always be the casual eater who is tempted to try dolphin or whale meat once. Even the threat of getting mercury poisoning will not stop them. After all, can you really die or get any debilitating effects from trying it just once? No, it takes eating it on a daily basis. That being said, the best way to do it is to show people the savage nature in which these intelligent mammals are killed. In this way, this movie, "The Cove" does this well. People who watch this film will be sick to their stomachs. It's like in driving school where they show you the video of violent, bloody car crashes to show you how dangerous driving is and why you should always be careful. It's called the shock treatment. Showing people how brutal the killings are will have a greater effect than telling them it contains mercury. Heck, with all the chemical additives and preservatives in food nowadays, and how people have been warned of the effects of eating a whole range of types of food, people still eat them because a slow death means nothing to them.
shitamachipride at 10:48 PM JST - 14th March

why on earth are americans this hell bent to stop japanese hunting dolphins/ pilot whales when people hunt whales in us and canada? also, why do not americans make a documentary on the first whale which is about to get extinct. the north atlantic right whale? the reason why i do not support sea shepherd is because they are driven by the hate of whalers than the love of whales. and so are most of you anti whaling people.
sarcasm123 at 10:07 AM JST - 15th March

why on earth are americans this hell bent to stop japanese hunting dolphins/ pilot whales when people hunt whales in us and canada?

Who is hunting them there? Do you dare to tell us? Also, it is not like only Americans are trying to stop you...

also, why do not americans make a documentary on the first whale which is about to get extinct. the north atlantic right whale?

I am pretty sure there is someone who made a documentary on this whale. Just not one you have ever heard of. Are you saying Japan is allowed to get some whales endangered because in the past the US also made one endangered? This sounds pretty stupid to me...

the reason why i do not support sea shepherd is because they are driven by the hate of whalers than the love of whales. and so are most of you anti whaling people.

This is a discussion on "The Cove" and you are talking about the Sea Shepherd... Would you kindly get your act together?
shitamachipride at 12:04 PM JST - 15th March

Who is hunting them there? Do you dare to tell us? Also, it is not like only Americans are trying to stop you...

It is mostly the Anglo Saxon countries which are hell bent on stopping people who hunt whales. According to the World Counsil of Whalers, an umbrella organization for whaling people throughout the world.

I*t is time to bring down the curtain on yet another dark chapter in the history of Anglo-Saxon cultural imperialism.

The anti-whaling lobby is fighting tooth and nail to ensure the whaling ban is never lifted, regardless of the status of stocks. And with no conservation arguments left to support their position, they now resort to tenuous ethical arguments for exempting whales from any consumptive use.

Faced with environmental challenges and yet respectful of cultural differences, the world community has thankfully embraced the principle of sustainable use as embodied in Agenda 21. We have agreed that the use of renewable natural resources is acceptable provided rates of usage are within the resources' capacity for renewal. Yet the West's cultural imperialists would have whales exempted from the sustainable use principle - an exemption that would, quite simply, place them above and apart from the animal kingdom to which they obviously belong.*

Native Americans, Inuits in Canada, USA, Greenland, Danes, Icelandics, Norwegians, Indonesians, people in the Caribbean have been hunting whales for ever. The truth of the matter is people across the world have have been hunting whales for ever including Japan. People who hunt whales have a unified voice. They find the anti whaling stance to be extremely arrogant, rude and culture imperialistic. Who are they to judge what people can eat and not eat? It is their attitude which is culture imperialistic and outdated.

I am pretty sure there is someone who made a documentary on this whale. Just not one you have ever heard of. Are you saying Japan is allowed to get some whales endangered because in the past the US also made one endangered? This sounds pretty stupid to me..

Source please. If you are pretty sure there is a documentary on the North Atlantic Right Whale, care to hare a link? Japan is not hunting whales that are endangered. Thats the point. If the growth rate of whales is larger than the whales being hunted then the hunt is sustainable. Whaling as in utilizing natural renewable resources is the most environmental friendly form of food production for human consumption. Enery is low in releation to yield, no pesticides have to be used and the natural habitat does not have to be destroyed and turned into agricultural land.
sarcasm123 at 02:29 PM JST - 15th March

It is mostly the Anglo Saxon countries which are hell bent on stopping people who hunt whales. According to the World Counsil of Whalers, an umbrella organization for whaling people throughout the world.

Care to give me a list of all countries in the IWC who oppose whaling? You can mark the Anglo Saxon countries with a 1, and the others with a 2, and we'll get the counts and percentages.

I*t is time to bring down the curtain on yet another dark chapter in the history of Anglo-Saxon cultural imperialism.

Haa, yes, the dark chapter of "Preventing complete extinction of endangered species". VERY dark! Much darker than the chapter "Let's eat everything until everything is gone", by the Japanese.

The anti-whaling lobby is fighting tooth and nail to ensure the whaling ban is never lifted, regardless of the status of stocks.

The status of the stocks as reported by the commercial whalers, I am sure you mean?

And with no conservation arguments left to support their position, they now resort to tenuous ethical arguments for exempting whales from any consumptive use.

You must be a very selective reader if you have not found a single "conservation argument" in this discussion...

Faced with environmental challenges and yet respectful of cultural differences, the world community has thankfully embraced the principle of sustainable use as embodied in Agenda 21. We have agreed that the use of renewable natural resources is acceptable provided rates of usage are within the resources' capacity for renewal.

... which is where the Japanese whaling clearly fails. A small detail you happened to miss?

Yet the West's cultural imperialists would have whales exempted from the sustainable use principle - an exemption that would, quite simply, place them above and apart from the animal kingdom to which they obviously belong.*

Together with the Homo Japanicus, who is exempted from all international regulations because "it is his culture" to eat things into extinction.

Native Americans, Inuits in Canada

There you have it. Who is hunting whales? People who are still living the way they were 100s of years ago. These people are a completely different case from the Japanese.

USA, Greenland, Danes, Icelandics, Norwegians, Indonesians, people in the Caribbean have been hunting whales for ever.

I did not ask "who has been whaling". I asked who IS whaling now. Japan, along with the other industrialized nations that are still whaling, are getting criticism. I think it is only normal.

The truth of the matter is people across the world have have been hunting whales for ever including Japan.

Again, I asked who is whaling NOW. I know many countries have whaled in the past. In that way, in fact it might in fact be much more MY culture to whale, than it is for a Japanese person. Yet, I have changed my ways for the better. The Japanese have not.

People who hunt whales have a unified voice. They find the anti whaling stance to be extremely arrogant, rude and culture imperialistic.

As arrogant as telling the entire world you are whaling for "research" while everyone knows it is just to eat whale meat? As arrogant as blowing this "culture" argument completely out of proportion? Hey, whaling was a pretty minor habit in Japan until about 100 years ago, you know? Who is being arrogant?

Source please. If you are pretty sure there is a documentary on the North Atlantic Right Whale, care to hare a link?

Google for "documentary" and "North Atlantic Right Whale", there are several thousands of hits. Tell me if none of them contain a link to a documentary about these animals.

Japan is not hunting whales that are endangered. Thats the point.

You are very badly misinformed. Even Japan admits it is hunting endangered species. If this is your point, I believe we should not pay too much attention to anything you wrote...

If the growth rate of whales is larger than the whales being hunted then the hunt is sustainable.

Very well said: "If".

All in all, not much of what you are saying makes any sense.
cleo at 02:59 PM JST - 15th March

The World Council of Whalers (WCW) calls itself 'an international non-governmental organization founded in 1997 to provide a forum for whaling peoples around the world'. It's a collection of people who kill whales.

The quote that continues in shitamachipride's post, however, is taken from the website of the High North Alliance which is a collection of people who kill whales and seals.

Neither organisation can be considered even remotely free of bias.

To go off on a tangent for a moment, the WCW site has a page of whale recipes. At the top of the list is 'Seashepherd's Pie' supposedly from Taiji. The recipe contains such traditional Japanese ingredients as tinned tomatoes, baked beans, button mushrooms and cheddar cheese and it's suggested that it be accompanied by British beer. It makes me think maybe the whole website is a spoof.
Nessie at 03:03 PM JST - 15th March

It is mostly the Anglo Saxon countries which are hell bent on stopping people who hunt whales.

News flash: There are no Anglo-Sexon countries.

Welcome to the 21st century, Shitamachipride.
haoushokuhaki at 04:00 PM JST - 15th March

KobeKid: For your information, these Taiji dolphin killings are barbaric and inhumane. Period. For more information about it, check out this website:

http://www.wspa.org.uk/latestnews/2009/Japans-secret-dolphin-slaughter-exposed.aspx

It mentions the movie "The Cove" and the brutality going on with the dolphin slaughters. It details how motorised boats are used to corner the dolphins and then are harpooned and left to slowly bleed to death. It also mentions how dolphin parks around the world will pay up to 100,000 pounds to use them in their shows. Nowhere in it does it mention about the threat of mercury poisoning. Yes, mercury poisoning is a possibility if you eat it. But you know why they don't mention it as a terrible danger to the world? Because most people have common sense and will stay away from eating it in the first place. Yet, you and other JT posters will continue to feed the frenzy and make the "mercury poisoning" threat the main issue, rather than the brutality involved. In my opinion, more focus should be on the brutality, NOT the so-called "everybody's going to die from food poisoning so we should panic" reason. It only makes people more scared of eating anything and everything that comes from the sea. That is my point.

Oh, and here is another good link about what is being done about cruelty to dolphins:

http://www.wspa-usa.org/pages/309crueltyfreedolphinactivities.cfm

WSPA is a well known group that is leading the fight in the protection of animals; all animals, and not just dolphins. I agree with what they say in that we should "hit them where it hurts" and stop going to dolphin shows and report any kind of dolphin show or program you see, whether it be in a shopping mall, zoo, etc. As for eating dolphin meat, that's a foregone conclusion. The majority has never and will never eat it anyway. You are not going to convince the people of Taiji to stop eating dolphin meat, but you can convince everyone else that supporting programs that promote cruelty to dolphins is wrong. IMO showing the brutality makes me sicker to the stomach, than hearing that the meat is laced with mercury.

But hey, if you are so scared of getting mercury poisoning, fine. Stop eating any seafood. Stop eating anything. Danger lurks everywhere, but to let fear rule your life is wrong, IMHO.
KobeKid at 08:38 PM JST - 15th March

NOT the so-called "everybody's going to die from food poisoning so we should panic" reason. It only makes people more scared of eating anything and everything that comes from the sea. That is my point.

see the movie haou and then you can make a much finer point...

“I thought about how to approach people of importance to protect the oceans and the dolphins, which prompted me to decide to make this documentary. At that time, though I understood what Ric had described about the place and his complaint, we decided to visit Taiji-cho ourselves because I wanted to find out the reasons and stories behind why people in Taiji were persisting in these dolphin drives. In the beginning, we planned to have the script present both Ric’s side of the story and the fishermen’s side of the story to compare them. However, the people in Taiji refused to provide us with their half. “Cinema is a powerful weapon. I simply wanted to start a debate by showing the film and offering close-up coverage of the dolphin hunting problems – such as the fact that dolphin meat is polluted with mercury and unsafe for human consumption."

“On the other hand, I also wanted to help the fishermen in Taiji. My feeling was that the fishermen in fact do not wish to see the dolphins suffering. I have a son who was also a fisherman, but he could not continue fishing any longer. The reason he gave it up was because of concerns that the big fish at the top of the food chain may contain excessive levels of mercury. Like my son, the fishermen in Taiji will have to find other work eventually. That was why I wanted to help them.”

from an interview with Louis Psihoyos by Shunkan Kinyobi http://suigin-iranai.jp/en/archives/639
haoushokuhaki at 09:18 PM JST - 15th March

see the movie haou and then you can make a much finer point...

Kobekid: I have. It is appalling and disgusting. I can't believe that you don't think that these hunts are brutal and savage. You should be ashamed of yourself. The way these fishermen go about stabbing indiscriminately is unnecessary to these intelligent animals.

In my opinion, I feel that these hunts should be stopped on the brutality of it. Yet, after reading several posts above, I have come to realize that just stopping these hunts won't solve everything. In order to survive, an industry in Taiji must be developed; one that would sustain their lives. If spending money to solve this problem is needed, then so be it. It would be wrong of us to ask them to stop, without having an alternative for them provided.

Like my son, the fishermen in Taiji will have to find other work eventually.

Good point. Any suggestions? Are you willing to help them out with setting up an alternative business or industry?
KobeKid at 10:43 PM JST - 15th March

ahhh how about swimming with wild dolphin tours?
shitamachipride at 11:16 PM JST - 15th March

Taiji should keep hunting pilot whales for food, and Americans can keep stuffing themselves with fast food. By the time, mercury has an impact on the people in Taiji, Amerians would have had a couple of cancer operations and died of a heart attack.

I think the people in Taiji are doing just fine, a better way to help the people there is by simply leaving them alone and stop ramming your culture down their throats.
shitamachipride at 11:38 PM JST - 15th March

ahhh how about swimming with wild dolphin tours?

Do you by chance have any Flipper posters hanging on your wall? A dolphin shrine at home?
stevecpfc at 11:42 PM JST - 15th March

shitmachipride; You realise that someone who support sthe film would not want Flipper posters on their wall? If you had watched the film you would kn ow that.
sarcasm123 at 12:18 AM JST - 16th March

shitamachipride, I notice you have very little counter arguments to what posters here are saying.

Taiji should keep hunting pilot whales for food, and Americans can keep stuffing themselves with fast food. By the time, mercury has an impact on the people in Taiji, Amerians would have had a couple of cancer operations and died of a heart attack.

Have you seen that CM laterly saying 1 in 2 Japanese get cancer? Have you seen any statistics on people living in Taiji? Or is the Japanese government hiding those from the public as well?

I think the people in Taiji are doing just fine, a better way to help the people there is by simply leaving them alone and stop ramming your culture down their throats.

Would that be the Japanese tradition of not eating animals? How come this tradition is not so important to you, compared to the "tradition" of killing animals in an unecessarily cruel way?

A dolphin shrine at home?

Ah yes, because you can do anything in Japan as long as you put a cheap plastic shrine on your wall and ring the bell once a day. Ridiculous.

This film is an unbalanced cultural imperialistic propaganda movie with contempt for whale eaters.

First of all, you have not seen the movie. Period. Secondly, the movie i snot about whales, but about dolphins.

I find these people to be hypocritical as they probably eat meat and wear sneakers made of cows, they have a highly arrogant ethnocentric view point.

These arguments teach us that you have absolutely no idea why this movie was made. By the way, can you tell me what the sneakers Japanese wear are made of? Can you tell me whehter Japanese eat beef more, or less, than whale or dolphin?

While they might be cute animals for some, people need to respect that they are just a mobile source of proteins for others.

A mobile source that needs to be killed in a brutal way, hidden from the eyes of the public. Hey, even the hunters seem to realize they are doing something that is not right, otherwize they wouldn't be hiding it like they do.