I went to watch the Oscar winning documentary, The Cove, last night at the Labia in Cape Town. Wow… what an intense movie. It´s dubbed as an eco-thriller and it lives up the name!
The film exposes the slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the coast of Japan every year, and how their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is being sold as food in Japan and other parts of Asia, often labeled as whale meat. The majority of the world is not aware this is happening. One of the main ´stars´ in the film is Ric O´Barry, who partly blames himself for the plight of the dolphins as he was the dolphin trainer for the television series, Flipper, which started the world´s fascination with marine life being held in captivity.
The focus of the movie is to create worldwide awareness of this annual practice as well as the dangers of eating seafood contaminated with mercury and to pressure those in power to put an end to the slaughter.
And it’s been working. The film has been making waves since it premiered last year. Critical praise and audience awards worldwide have focused international attention on Taiji and the annual dolphin drives off the coast of Japan. Under intense pressure, Taiji called for a temporary ban on killing bottlenose dolphins. The film, which was originally rejected, was shown at the Tokyo Film Festival due to public outcry. Residents in Taiji are being tested for mercury poisoning, and for the first time Japanese media are covering the issue.
It is a harrowing, shocking story but a definite must-see. There will be another screening tonight, 30th March, 6:15pm at the Labia on Orange followed by a discussion, should you wish to stay.
Close to a million people have signed on to the campaign, but this is just the beginning. The fisherman are clearly rattled, but haven’t stopped killing dolphins.
TakePart now to help shut down the cove for good.
Nics
x
