The Cove (film)

The Cove
A man swimming underwater surrounded by five dolphins. Above is the title "The Cove" and the tagline "Shallow Water, Deep Secret". Below is a group of quotes from film critics giving praise to the film, with the credits of the film at the bottom.
The film's poster, which features a photograph of Canadian freediving world champion Mandy-Rae Cruickshank swimming with dolphins.[1]
Directed byLouie Psihoyos
Written byMark Monroe
Produced byPaula DuPré Pesmen
Fisher Stevens
StarringRic O'Barry
Louie Psihoyos
CinematographyBrook Aitken
Edited byGeoffrey Richman
Music byJ. Ralph
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • July 31, 2009 (2009-07-31)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Japanese
Box office$1,140,043

The Cove is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Louie Psihoyos that analyzes and questions dolphin hunting practices in Japan. It was awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. The film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills and captures, change Japanese fishing practices, and inform and educate the public about captivity and the increasing hazard of mercury poisoning from consuming dolphin meat.

Psihoyos is a former-National Geographic photographer and a co-founder of the Oceanic Preservation Society, and the film is presented from an ocean conservationist's point of view.[2][3][4] Portions were filmed secretly in 2007 using underwater microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks.[2][5] The film highlights the fact that the number of dolphins killed in the Taiji dolphin drive hunt is several times greater than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic, and asserts that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year by the country's whaling industry. The migrating dolphins are herded into a cove where they are netted off. The young and pretty are sold to oceanariums and dolphinariums around the world, and the rest are brutally slaughtered. The film argues that dolphin hunting as practiced in Japan is unnecessary and cruel.

Since the film's release, The Cove has drawn controversy over its supposed lack of neutrality, secret filming techniques, and its portrayal of the Japanese people. It won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. It was selected out of 879 submissions in the category.[2][6]

  1. ^ The Cove (2009). "The Cove Poster". Impawards.com. Retrieved April 23, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c "Dolphin slaughter film a hit at Sundance" The Japan Times. (January 27, 2009). Retrieved on January 27, 2009.
  3. ^ OPSociety.org Archived June 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Oceanic Preservation Society – Facts
  4. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette. The Cove (2008) From Flipper's Trainer to Dolphin Defender The New York Times. July 31, 2009.
  5. ^ Jurgensen, John. A Dolphin Horror Film The Wall Street Journal. July 31, 2009.
  6. ^ The Cove Archived August 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Sundance Festival 2009