Tokyo film festival decides at last minute to include 'The Cove'

But he acknowledged there had been...nervousness about “an unexpected controversy."

Let's keep it clean, safe and unoffensive, people. This is an international film festival, after all.

Don't miss the seafood buffet served during the intermission...

Most events in Japan would reprint. I have a friend who missed one kanji on a program and all 40,000 programs were reprinted at the organizers expense. Seems reprint for Japanese mistakes, but well foreigners will understand. Interesting.

An event promoting ecological concerns would be doubledamned for shredding their programs! Better to have an insert. But I have no doubt that interested parties and individuals will be sure to spread the word and that the screening will be very well attended.

I'm impressed that they decided to include it, but something tells me that they know there are going to be protests and by including it they can be looked at as open minded, but in reality they will pull it at the last second for safety reasons thus satisfying the people who don't want it shown...

I hope you are correct, Maria-san.

I also have no doubt that this was a well-planned (and veiled) compromise by the organizers to appease all sides. Very Japanese situation management. (I'm not saying "very bad", only "very Japanese")

"We will allow it in the festival." (so the public,foreign press, and the film-makers can't complain)

"The film will not be included in the competition portion." (which means it has no chance to gain extra publicity by winning, so other film-makers will not complain)

"Unfortunately it is too late to include it in the pamphplets or PR material and the scheduling hasn't even been decided." (which means in fact it will only be seen by a small percentage of those who would otherwise see it, so our sponsors and the government can't complain about negative fall-out)

"We can't tell you how we came to the decision." (so the people who were against this decision in our organization will not lose face or complain)

Very well handled indeed.

In the end, showing the film is better than not showing the film, so I guess we should be satisfied. (?)

"But the decision was so last-minute the movie didn’t make it into the official press package"

But the decision was so last-minute the movie didn’t make it into the official press package.

Keep the media away, good tricks!

Wow, this is great. Even if it was a last minute decision, still some people will be able to see this movie, and hopefully fisheries agency will be forced to revoke all licenses for hunting dolphins in Japan. Thanks to anyone, who voted for it.

Interestingly, not only is there no reference to the movie on their official site, there isn't even a press release announcing their decision (in either language from what I can tell).

The moview will be shown in a small closet at the same time as the most major films are being screened...

Now you'll see the theaters declining to show the film citing "security concerns"

It does not seem to have been added to the schedule yet: http://www.tiff-jp.net/en/schedule/ So, it might be difficult to find out when/where it is showing.

I will be surprised if they don't show it out of concern for security, as Japanese people know all too well it is anti-whaling people who are a security threat.

Still doubt many Japanese people (apart from Greenpeace Japan affiliates etc) will want to waste time watching this, but the only bad thing that could happen out of this is people walk away from this festival being brainwashed by the one-sided propaganda. It speaks volumes of "The Cove" that people who were interviewed for it have later turned around and been saying that they had their comments misused and now want them removed from the movie (as reported in Time).

daviddatokyo:"Still doubt many Japanese people (apart from Greenpeace Japan affiliates etc) will want to waste time watching this, but the only bad thing that could happen out of this is people walk away from this festival being brainwashed by the one-sided propaganda" That's awfully paranoid.

Umm,how can you speak for MANY Japanese people ?? You seem to know just SO many people...lol. Why do you DOUBT that many people wouldn't want to watch it ? Bit presumptuous.

my wife for one want to see it. she saw a short killing scene on the new last weekend. she was so outraged.

not every japanese agree with the dolphin and whale slaughter here.

Potsu,

Me doubting that many Japanese people will have much time for this is my opinion, not me attempting to speak for them. Reality is polls continue to show Japan is a country where the majority of people regard cetaceans as a legitimate source of food, and the majority of people I personally have met who have expressed an opinion about it think the western hypocrisy is a joke.

Why do you DOUBT that many people wouldn't want to watch it ?

I think there are many issues that are more relevant to Japanese people than what some foreigners think about dolphin harvests in Taiji, and thus relatively few Japanese people are likely to donate their time and money to listening to western propaganda about it. The kind of people who are likely to donate their time and money are probably the so-called "choir", as I mentioned in my previous comment.

davidattokyo: Fair enough,everyone has their opinions.BTW,which polls ? Any links for them ?

davidattokyo, Cheers for the link.

Don't miss the seafood buffet served during the intermission...

I know this is a serious issue...but thanks for that, it really tickled me!

"You`ve seen the show, now lets eat the cast.....!"

Show the film in all Japanese high schools and have a debate for and gainst the massacre.

Of all the Japanese persons interviewed in the film "The Cove" I have only read of one that wants to be removed from the film, and that was only after the announcement that the film will play in Japan.

I'm sure that he fears he will suffer for speaking the truth 'in Japan'.

Ryono stated "for the record" that mercury tainted dolphin meat was about to be served as school lunches to the students in Taiji, and that the mayor of Taiji was trying to promote this program across Japan. Now he want's to retract that statement ?? There must be a powerful PRO mercury poisoning lobby pressuring him.

A couple of points for discussion.

1; How can you regard poison meat as food ??

2; Is going out into a national park and harvesting the top level predator, upsetting the food chain, responsible ?

3; Wild animals caught for captivity must be caught in a non selective and humane manner or else WAZA members are not allowed to display them. The dolphins from Taiji are not!

Ryono actually went on the record in US media in 2007

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1668448,00.html

It's only because the film is now going to screen in Japan that he is backpeddeling.

1) How can you regard food that no one has died from (or displayed news-worthy symptoms) as "poisoned"? 2) Harvesting top level predators is not necessarily upsetting the food chain. On the other hand, harvesting everything but top level predators may be.

Ryono or whoever it was that was "back-peddling" was quoted as saying he didn't like what he perceived as an anti-Japan sentiment in the movie. It sounds to me like he felt his comments had been manipulated against his will for this purpose.