TOKYO – Oscar-winning documentary about dolphin-hunting “The Cove” is to get a release in Japan from June 26, despite some opposition.
Distributor Unplugged said the film is confirmed at 26 cinemas so far, with negotiations continuing with other venues.
The faces of the dolphin fishermen will be blurred out in the version released in Japan, along with a warning about some of the data in the film about mercury levels in dolphin meat.
“We found that the numbers that had been used in the documentary were not average figures, but just some of the figures that they found. So we explained that,” said a spokesperson for Unplugged.
In response to claims in the film, the National Institute for Minamata Disease carried out mercury-level testing of people in Taiji, where “The Cove” was shot.
At a press conference earlier this month it was announced they had found mercury levels four times the national average in citizens of the town, and even higher levels in those who had eaten whale and dolphin over the last month.
Nevertheless, the NIMD claims to have found no related health problems in those it tested.
