"The Cove" director fights Japanese scientist's lawsuit
TOKYO December 8, 2010 (AP)
A scientist says his reputation has been tarnished by
the U.S. documentary "The Cove," a graphic account of
Japanese dolphin-hunting, and is demanding that
footage of his interview be removed from the movie.
Film director Louie Psihoyos said Wednesday he
stood behind his movie, that University of Hokkaido
toxicologist Tetsuya Endo had agreed to be
interviewed and that the footage of him was not taken
out of order or otherwise doctored.
"He talked on the record at length to us, several
times," he told The Associated Press. "He did say the
things that he said, in the order that he said them.
What we published was the truth, and now he wants
to take back the truth."
The Oscar-winning documentary shows dolphins
herded into a cove in the Japanese fishing village of
Taiji, and stabbed by fishermen on small boats,
turning the water red with blood.
The movie, starring Ric O'Barry, the former dolphin
trainer for the "Flipper" 1960s TV show, has
intensified international opposition to the slaughter.
In one section, Endo speaks in an interview with the
filmmakers about his research on the high levels of
mercury in dolphin meat.
Endo said he never signed release forms, and thinks
"The Cove" is "disrespectful toward Japanese."
"I have no interest in being in this movie," he said in a
telephone interview.
The lawsuit, which targets the Japanese distributor,
Unplugged Inc., demands the footage be deleted and
11 million yen ($131,000) in damages for tarnishing
Endo's reputation.
It was filed in Osaka District Court in July, but was
recently moved to Tokyo District Court, where
Unplugged is based. Unplugged declined comment,
saying the lawsuit was ongoing.
Psihoyos believes Endo's comments are key in
winning Japanese to his message, and he wants
Japanese to see his movie, uncensored. He
acknowledged he cannot find Endo's release forms.
"You can argue that dolphins shouldn't be killed
because they are more humanlike, but I think the most
powerful point in the our movie from a Japanese
perspective is that these animals are toxic," he said in
a telephone interview from Boulder, Colorado.
Taiji, a village with 3,500 residents, has landed in the
global spotlight with "The Cove," which opened in
June in some theaters in Japan, mostly to positive
reception.
Some Japanese don't want to eat dolphin meat, and
are stunned to see the cruelty of the hunt.
Taiji stopped the killing last year, but resumed it in
September. A handful of dolphins has been saved to
sell to aquariums, but the rest have been slaughtered.
The Japanese government allows about 20,000
dolphins to be caught each year, and defends the
hunts as traditional.
It argues that killing dolphins is no different from
raising cows or pigs for slaughter. But the government warns pregnant women against eating whale and dolphin meat because of the toxins.
By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press
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Online:
http://www.thecovemovie.com/
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