I'm making my way through the Oscar®-nominated documentaries; just one more to go. I saved my Netflix copy of The Cove for a recent rainy day here in Southern California, knowing that this was not going to be a sunshine kind of film. I wasn't wrong.
Part real-life horror film and part thrilling investigative journalism piece, The Cove exposes the gruesome practice of dolphin slaughter in the Japanese seaside hamlet of Tajiji. It all started with Flipper on television in the 1950s (remember him and his happy theme song?), who kicked off the worldwide fascination with these lovable marine mammals. Honestly, how many times have you been to Sea World just to see the dolphin show? A lot, that's how many.
Flipper's trainer was Richard O'Barry, who unwittingly set off the booming dolphin captivity industry for aquariums and marine shows around the world. Upon realizing the harmful effects of captivity on dolphins, he has spent the last several decades as an activist trying to end it. Dolphins are apparently big business, particularly for Tajiji, which is the largest dolphin supplier in the world. However, not every dolphin even makes it into captivity. From September through March every year, 23,000(!) dolphins are slaughtered in a secret cove in Tajiji, away from the sightline of residents. The remaining dolphin meat, full of toxic mercury, is often sold as whale meat to unsuspecting consumers in Japan.
The filmmakers start covertly filming the activities at the cove in order to expose this sickening practice. What is captured on film is heartwrenching, but the hope is that this film can help shame the Japanese into ending this practice before this year's slaughter begins, and allow these beautiful creatures to live freely in the oceans (although that just seems like it will eventually be the lesser of two evils at this point in the environmental decline).
This is an opportunity for a documentary film to make a direct impact on an urgent issue, so I for one hope that The Cove filmmakers get their 45 seconds on Oscar® night to trumpet their message to the masses.
Win one for the Flipper.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Papers
I have always been fascinated by the '70s Watergate era - All the President's Men, Katherine Graham and The Washington Post, Executive branch hubris and more. One of the most intriguing events of this era spurred my favorite legal case - New York Times Co. v. United States - otherwise known as the Pentagon Papers case.
Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure to attend a UCLA screening of the new Oscar®-nominated documentary about this event, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Judith Erlich and Rick Goldsmith have crafted an enthralling film that plays out like an nail-biting thriller. It's a must-see.
Daniel Ellsberg was a Defense Department analyst at RAND, who at one time was a Pentagon employee and Vietnam War envoy patrolling the jungles. He became disillusioned that the U.S. government was lying to the American people about the scope of our involvement and likelihood of victory in the war, in the midst of escalating conflict. In 1971, he covertly copied and leaked the Pentagon Papers, a classified history of U.S. involvement in the war, to the New York Times in order to expose these lies. Their publication of the documents sparked the historic court case which went to the core of First Amendment rights, changed public opinion about the war, and ultimately helped end it. It also led to President Nixon forming his White House Plumbers Squad to discredit Ellsberg, and later, to the events of Watergate.
Dr. Ellsberg attended the event for a lively Q&A and discussion after the screening. It was quite a thrill to hear from this legendary whistleblower at a time when the U.S. is once again engaged in a similar decades-long conflict in Afgahnistan. Whatever your politics, Ellberg's story of great personal risk in the face of a moral dilemma is awe-inspiring and certainly begs the question, "What would you have done in his shoes?".
Hmm.
Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure to attend a UCLA screening of the new Oscar®-nominated documentary about this event, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Judith Erlich and Rick Goldsmith have crafted an enthralling film that plays out like an nail-biting thriller. It's a must-see.
Daniel Ellsberg was a Defense Department analyst at RAND, who at one time was a Pentagon employee and Vietnam War envoy patrolling the jungles. He became disillusioned that the U.S. government was lying to the American people about the scope of our involvement and likelihood of victory in the war, in the midst of escalating conflict. In 1971, he covertly copied and leaked the Pentagon Papers, a classified history of U.S. involvement in the war, to the New York Times in order to expose these lies. Their publication of the documents sparked the historic court case which went to the core of First Amendment rights, changed public opinion about the war, and ultimately helped end it. It also led to President Nixon forming his White House Plumbers Squad to discredit Ellsberg, and later, to the events of Watergate.
Dr. Ellsberg attended the event for a lively Q&A and discussion after the screening. It was quite a thrill to hear from this legendary whistleblower at a time when the U.S. is once again engaged in a similar decades-long conflict in Afgahnistan. Whatever your politics, Ellberg's story of great personal risk in the face of a moral dilemma is awe-inspiring and certainly begs the question, "What would you have done in his shoes?".
Hmm.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Black History
I've been catching some great docs this week in celebration of Black History Month.
HBO is airing Elvis Mitchell and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' The Black List: Volume 3, the third annual installment of this provocative first-person documentary series, featuring intimate portraits and candid insights from some of today's most fascinating African-American icons. The cinematography in particular is terrific - the subjects are shot beautifully against a plain blackdrop, which makes their stirring perspectives stand out even more.
The fine folks at VH1 Rock Docs have assembled a fun history of the legendary, influential television dance series, Soul Train in Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America. The documentary celebrates the 40th anniversary of this landmark show, which was steered by charismatic host and executive producer Don Cornelius, and was the longest-running, first-run syndicated series in history. It was also the arbiter of African-American music and culture through the eras of soul, disco and hip-hop, before ending its successful run in 2006. After watching the film, I feel like standing up for the Soul Train dance line - who's with me?!
I also want to see PBS Independent Lens' upcoming documentary, Behind the Rainbow, which chronicles the changes in South Africa's post-apartheid political landscape. Looks to be a compelling film about that nation's struggles with equality.
Check these out for cool reflections and inspiring voices in the history of the African diaspora.
HBO is airing Elvis Mitchell and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' The Black List: Volume 3, the third annual installment of this provocative first-person documentary series, featuring intimate portraits and candid insights from some of today's most fascinating African-American icons. The cinematography in particular is terrific - the subjects are shot beautifully against a plain blackdrop, which makes their stirring perspectives stand out even more.
The fine folks at VH1 Rock Docs have assembled a fun history of the legendary, influential television dance series, Soul Train in Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America. The documentary celebrates the 40th anniversary of this landmark show, which was steered by charismatic host and executive producer Don Cornelius, and was the longest-running, first-run syndicated series in history. It was also the arbiter of African-American music and culture through the eras of soul, disco and hip-hop, before ending its successful run in 2006. After watching the film, I feel like standing up for the Soul Train dance line - who's with me?!
I also want to see PBS Independent Lens' upcoming documentary, Behind the Rainbow, which chronicles the changes in South Africa's post-apartheid political landscape. Looks to be a compelling film about that nation's struggles with equality.
Check these out for cool reflections and inspiring voices in the history of the African diaspora.
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