Japanese Politicians Not Happy with ‘Cove’ Oscar Victory
Add another Oscar critic to the pile. Kazutaka Sangen, the mayor of the Japanese city of Taiji — site of the Oscar-winning documentary film “The Cove” — took to the media yesterday to attack the film’s victory in the Best Documentary category at the Oscars.
“This film has mistakes of fact,” he said at a press conference. “I’m surprised that it won the award even though its content is not truthful.”
The Cove documents the mass slaughter of dolphins for meat, which is then sold to the Japanese market under the guise of whale meat.
Variety reports that Sangen’s press conference may also have had something to do with The Cove’s upcoming Japanese release — which will happen this summer by Medallion Media.
But Sangen said, “(Theaters) with common sense will call off screenings. We intend as a town to tell the truth about the dolphin fishery, both domestically and internationally.”
Yoshinobu Nisaku, the governor of Wakayama Prefecture, in which Taiji is located, said, “Criticizing this business, which has been contributing to the livelihood of Taiji for a long time, with incorrect information and one-sided value judgments, is not the way of a gentleman.”
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