Behind The Cove

Behind "The Cove": The Quiet Japanese Speak Out (Japanese: ビハインド・ザ・コーヴ 〜捕鯨問題の謎に迫る〜, Hepburn: bihaindo za kōvu 〜hogeimondai no nazo ni semaru〜) is a 2015 Japanese documentary film directed and produced by Keiko Yagi.[1]

Behind "The Cove": The Quiet Japanese Speak Out
Japanese DVD cover
Japanese name
Kanjiビハインド・ザ・コーヴ 〜捕鯨問題の謎に迫る〜
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburnbihaindo za kōvu 〜hogeimondai no nazo ni semaru〜
Directed byKeiko Yagi
Produced byKeiko Yagi
Narrated byRussell Goodall
Edited byKeiko Yagi
Music byNariaki Kato
Distributed byYagi Film Limited
Release date
  • 4 September 2015 (2015-09-04)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

It is the first film in response to the Academy Award winning 2009 anti-whaling documentary film The Cove, and seeks to show the views of both sides of the international whaling debate, particularly focusing on the town of Taiji, Japan.[2]

Synopsis

On March 31, 2014, the International Court of Justice ordered Japan to stop its Antarctic whaling program.[3]

Fearing that ancestral culinary traditions will disappear, director Keiko Yagi decided to investigate and understand what motivates regular attacks against Japan on whaling. With a camera, Keiko Yagi traveled to Taiji, home of Oscar-winning 2009 documentary film "The Cove". For four months, Keiko Yagi interviewed the various protagonists of the film "The Cove", from its director to the people of Taiji through the official organizations and the militant associations.

Cast
Name Role
Louie PsihoyosDirector of The Cove
Ric O'BarryFounder of Dolphin Project
Jōji Morishita (森下丈二)IWC Japanese Government Representative
Kunio Yonezawa (米澤邦男)IWC Japan's Chief Representative of Japan
Kazuo Shima (島一雄)
Masayuki Komatsu (小松正之)
Hideki Moronuki (諸貫秀樹)Fisheries negotiator of the Fisheries Agency
David HanceSea Shepherd 2014 leader
Simon WearneTV program Whale Wars former photographer
Lars WallowProfessor of ecology at the University of Oslo
Kazuo Yamamura (山村和夫)President of the Whaling Association of Japan
Yoshito Umezaki (梅崎義人)Fisheries journalist
Kazutaka Sangen (三軒一高)Mayor of Taiji
Akio Usagawa (宇佐川彰男)Taiji chief of Education Committee
Katsuyuki Horibata (堀瑞勝之)Taiji elementary school's principal
Taiji people
Dolphin Project members

Reception

Behind 'The Cove' received a mostly negative response from Western critics. Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times described it as "a regrettably amateurish effort in tone, style and pacing, as if [Yagi's] first cut were her final cut. It's too scattershot to be persuasive, even if occasionally it sparks thought about issues of cultural tradition, unfair international agreements, and nationalistic defensiveness."[4] Luke Y. Thompson of The Village Voice was also critical of the film, writing, "Japan's answer to the Oscar-winning, 2009 anti-dolphin-hunting documentary The Cove is driven more by agenda than much discernible skill in the areas of camera, editing, storytelling, or interview technique." He added, "Probably about a quarter of the film's runtime is screenshots of web browsers, which is apt, as this is essentially a Condescending Wonka meme taken to feature length."[5]

Accolades
  • Montreal World Film Festival, Official Screening (2015)[6]
  • London International Filmmaker Festival, Best Director of a Feature Documentary (February 2018)[7]
  • Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, First Time Filmmaker (October 2016)[8]
  • 13th Japan Wildlife Film Festival, New Perspective Award (April 2018)[9]
  • Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival, Award of Recognition (October 2016)[10]
  • Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards, Award of Excellence (October 2016)[11]
  • Pune Independent Film Festival, Best Woman Filmmaker (Fall 2016)[12]
  • International Filmmaker Festival of New York, Honorable Mention (May 2018)[13]
  • London Greek Film Festival, Semi-finalist (2018)[14]
  • Miami Independent Film Festival, Feature Documentary (2017)[15]
  • Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, Golden Fox Award Nominee for Best Educational Film (2017)[16]
  • Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, Films of the Month Educational Film Winner (January 2017)[17]
  • Portsmouth International Film Festival, Sound in a Documentary (2017)[18]
  • Paris Art and Movie Awards, Meilleur Documentaire (2018)[19]

References

[20][21]

  1. JIJI Kyodo (19 February 2018). "Japanese director's pro-whaling documentary wins award at London film festival". Japan Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  2. BWW News Desk. "YAGI Film Inc. Announces Screenings of Documentary BEHIND THE COVE". Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  3. McCurry, Justin (31 March 2014). "Japan told to halt Antarctic whaling by international court". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. Abele, Robert (1 December 2016). "Review: The activist documentary "Behind 'The Cove'" falls short of the mark". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  5. Thompson, Luke Y. (23 November 2016). "Surprise: The Documentary That Defends Japanese Whaling Is an Amateurish Mess". The Village Voice. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  6. "Director Keiko Yagi on the importance of 'Behind THE COVE' documentary and the New York screening at IFFNY". NY Elite Magazine. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  7. "Japan film festival to screen whaling documentary". City-Cost. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  8. "October 2016 Winner". A home for your amazing films. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  9. "Wildlife-film.com Feature Page – JWFF 2017 Winners Announced". wildlife-film.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  10. "Oct 2016 Winner". A home for your amazing films. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  11. "October 2016 Winners". Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. "www.punefilmfestival.com". punefilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  13. "IFFNY 2018 AWARDS | IFFNY". IFFNY. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  14. "London Greek Film Festival 2018 – Selected films in competition". londongreekfilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  15. "ALL OFFICIAL FINALISTS – ANNUAL MINDIE 2017 – MIAMI INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL". miamindiefest.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  16. "2017 Golden Fox Award Nominees – CICFF". CICFF. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  17. "monthly selection – january 2017 – CICFF". CICFF. 5 February 2017. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  18. "WINNERS 2017 – Portsmouth International Film Festival". portsmouthfilmfest.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  19. "PAMA 2018 : La soirée de remise des prix avec Sharon Stone". Unification France (in French). Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  20. "Behind The Cove". jffla.org. Japan Film Festival, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  21. ""Behind the Cove" rebuts Academy Award Winning Documentary – Editor's Note". The North American Post. 11 May 2017.
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