No Tokyo Dolphins

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I missed Peter Howell's 8.5 scoop about the Tokyo Film Festival shunning The Cove. The Toronto Star critic got it the day before from Cove director Louie Psihoyos during a Toronto promotional visit. Psihoyos had been told that very day -- August 4th -- that Tokyo wasn't taking The Cove. He said he'd been warned by a Tokyo festival director that the film might not make the cut for political reasons.

Howell tried to get a reaction from the Tokyo people...nothing. "It seemed like a done deal then," Howell informs, "and I haven't seen anything either online or off that contradicts my Aug. 5 report."

So now the ball really is in Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu's court. If the festival changes its mind about The Cove, fine. But if not, as I wrote earlier today, Inarritu's serving as jury president will be seen, at the very least, as an unfortunate gesture. It will indicate that he's more or less down with the festival's decision. Or is certainly not disputing it in any meaningful way. Definitely an unseemly situation. He should really think this one over. What's right is right.

Update: In Contention's Kris Tapley has pushed this thread along and contributed his two cents.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 18, 2009 at 11:40 AM

comment #1

lazespud says ...

What a shock.

For 45 years their textbooks and teachers basically stopped telling Japanese history that took place after 1935. Literally almost every instructor in the country would just "run out of time" at the end of the year before they got to Japan's lead up to WWII and their shameful conduct against china, korea, and of course, the US.

They also still barely acknowledge the so-called Rape of Nanking. This was a time where local Japanes newspapers in Japan covered approvingly an ongoing contest between two Japanese soldiers competing to see who could behead the most Chinese (I think the winner had like 115).

The problem isn't that Japan has bad things happen in their past or currently; it's that they are singularly unable to address them in any meaningful way.

So it's is incredibly unsurprising that this movie about the annual Taiji massacre won't be at the film festival.

Posted by lazespud at August 18, 2009 12:36 PM

comment #2

BurmaShave says ...

This is three stories now on a film festival I was not aware anyone gave a shit about.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 18, 2009 2:49 PM

comment #3

Jeffrey Wells says ...

It's not that the Tokyo Film Festival is a vital, big-deal film festival that anyone cares or doesn't care about. It's about the festival blowing off a major doc about reprehensible activity happening in Japan -- a doc that damn near everyone has praised and called extremely important (and very well-made besides) and whether or not Inarritu should lend his fame and rep to enhance the festival's rep in light of their reported position about not showing The Cove in deference to local political pressure. That's pretty ugly stuff in my book. On the festival's part, I mean.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at August 18, 2009 3:06 PM

comment #4

BurmaShave says ...

But as lazespud articulately points out above, it's not at all a surprise, and probably an excellent reason why the festival is not internationally revered.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 18, 2009 9:06 PM

comment #5

free games says ...

The problem isn't that Japan has bad things happen in their past or currently; it's that they are singularly unable to address them in any meaningful way.

Posted by free games at November 1, 2009 4:13 AM

comment #6

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