As you might expect from any film featuring the government-OK'd, graphic slaughter of dolphins off the Japanese coast, the acclaimed documentary The Cove has finally proven a little too distasteful for that country's representatives to bear. And now, with the Sundance fave slated to appear at next month's Los Angeles Film Festival, Japan's annoyance appears to have turned to action.
According to a report in today's THR, the Japanese government may have had something to do with The Cove's venue change from Grand Performances at California Plaza to the more confined Majestic Crest in Westwood. (Both screenings will be free.) After all, the Japanese consulate rents space from California Plaza, and the government made little secret of its opposition to director Louis Psihoyos's meddling during production. The problem: The film's key sequence comprises surreptitiously recorded footage of dolphins being butchered by fishermen near the coastal city of Wakayama.
With that in mind, maybe the outdoor space at California Plaza might not be the ideal venue to begin with. Still, The Cove is a hit everywhere it plays, winning the Audience Award among documentaries this year at Sundance and drawing additional superlatives during its run last month at New York's New Directors/New Films series. Roadside Attractions, which will release the film this summer, can't mind a little international incident for publicity's sake ("The larger issue is we are trying directly to engage the Japanese government," said co-president Howard Cohen), though California Plaza's executive director denied receiving any direct pressure to reject the film.
To be continued, I suppose: Movieline will keep an eye on the developments from the festival grounds, where we've already set up camp and where you'll find us from June 18-28.
ยท Cove awash in controversy [THR]