Tokyo: Screenings of The Cove, an Oscar-winning documentary about an annual dolphin hunt have been cancelled in Tokyo.Planned protests by conservatives who say the film is anti-Japanese have lead the movie showings to be cancelled.
The film, which picked up an Oscar for best documentary feature this year, follows a group of activists who struggle with Japanese police and fishermen to gain access to a secluded cove in Taiji, southern Japan, where dolphins are hunted.
Directed by former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos and featuring Ric O'Barry, a former dolphin trainer from the Flipper television series, The Cove has prompted activists to threaten street demonstrations.
Planned showings of the film at two cinemas in Tokyo this month have been cancelled because of fears the protests might prove an inconvenience for movie-goers.
Screenings at one Osaka theatre have also been called off. However the distributors are still in negotiations to show the movie at 23 venues around the country this summer. The company, Unplugged, has received threatening phone calls and protesters have gathered outside its offices.
"The Cove is absolutely not an anti-Japanese film," Takeshi Kato of Unplugged said. "I believe a deep and constructive debate is needed about the content of the film."
O'Barry, who is set to visit Japan from June 8, said Japanese film-goers should be allowed to see the documentary. "It's not right that a small minority of extremists could take this right away from them," he said "To do so is a clear threat to democracy." The film was shown at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year, but has yet to be made widely available.
