January 04, 2010 12:00PM EST

Docs on the Shortlist:
The Cove

In anticipation of this year's Oscars, Tribeca Cinemas will be showing six groundbreaking documentaries as part of the Docs on the Shortlist hosted by the GUCCI TRIBECA DOCUMENTARY FUND event this weekend, January 8 and 9. We asked each participating filmmaker five questions about their documentaries. Louie Psihoyos, director of The Cove, discusses why the world needs to pay attention to the dangers of Japanese whale-fishing.


Louie Psihoyos

Please describe the story you tell in your film. What inspired you to tell that story?

Reminds me of one of those questions you're asked on a school test: "Describe World War II, use back side of paper if necessary." I run a small non-profit called the Oceanic Preservation Society and we use the most powerful medium in the world to try to save the oceans. Human activity is killing off life in the oceans faster than anyone imagines with more far ranging consequences than any future generation should have to endure. With the increase in acidity due to carbon emissions, everything with a carbonic structure is dissolving, including coral reefs and plankton. When you lose the reefs, you lose reef fish and you lose a large part of the ecosystem that life depends on. Every scientific model predicts the collapse of coral reefs by the end of the century. Plankton bobbing in the far off oceans may not seem to have much connection with human life, but two out of every three breaths you take depend on oxygen generated from plankton. Plankton generates far more oxygen than all the rain forests of the world.

The Cove is not about plankton. It's hard to get people caring about anything, much less plankton. Dolphins and whales are our aquatic counterparts and they are a perfect metaphor for our relationship with the oceans and the creatures in it. By killing them, we are really killing off a part of ourselves. A tragic irony that haunts our story structure is that the dolphin is the only wild animal throughout human history known to save the life of humans, and the only way we can save them now is to prove that we have made their environment so toxic that we should not be eating them. Our hero is Ric O'Barry, the trainer responsible for capturing and training the five female dolphins that collectively played the part of Flipper. He is one of the most famous dolphin trainers in the world and has achieved the American Dream—fame, wealth and success. But after an epiphany one day when the primary dolphin that played the part of Flipper "committed suicide," he turned his life around and became the dolphin's most tireless advocate.

The world's largest slaughter of dolphins takes place in Taiji, Japan, in a secret cove in a Japanese National Park that also ironically supplies most of the world's captive dolphins. Everything about the town of Taiji makes it look like they love dolphins and whales. If Ric and our team can break through the natural fortress of the secret cove and past the guards and police that patrol the area, perhaps the footage can put an end to the atrocity. My hope is that The Cove will not only shut down the cove but create a legion of activists by inspiring people to get involved helping to save the environment.

Making documentaries is not an easy road. What was the biggest challenge in getting your film made? How did you overcome it?

Making a film under the best of conditions is a challenging endeavor. The Cove was made under perhaps the worst. Making this film involved working on and underwater using high tech electronic gear that cannot get wet, with raging currents, poor visibility, bad lighting while trying to shoot uncooperative animals. And we were trying to penetrate a cove that is protected like a fort with high fences, spikes and barbed wire, a series of tunnels that have motion sensors, guard dogs, violent guards with knives that would love to kill you and police under pressure to arrest you. On top of that, we had to do all of this at night with military grade surveillance equipment while sneaking around with face paint and black clothes. That gives you some sense of what making The Cove was like. We didn't need filmmakers to make The Cove, we needed pirates. The joke on the set was, "We're all professionals, just not at this." Overcoming all this is very simple when you believe that the cause is worth the sacrifice and the consequences. The only way the cove can be shut down is by exposing it. That kind of evil cannot survive the light of day.

For aspiring filmmakers, what was the biggest asset you found in getting the word out about your film?

Make a good film with a great story and they will come.  Forget the parties people say you have to throw, the postcards, the posters, the ads, the publicists and the sales reps. First, make a great film that you are passionate about and all the other pieces will fall into place. It's all about first having a story you are passionate about. Ultimately, the director and crew of a small film with no celebrities are the walking talking early billboards for the film, so hiring people that are passionate about the film is essential. You'll need them to Tweet, Facebook and promote your film, and they will be as emotionally invested as you are.

Is there a particular screening of your film that stands out for you as the director? What made that experience special?

I was working in isolation for over three years making a film I feared nobody would want to see. We finished making the film at 4 a.m. the morning before our first screening at Sundance. I asked one of the producers as I was waiting for my cab to take me to the airport with the film if he thought we had made a good film. He had made over 20 and this was my first. "Prepare yourself for a disaster," he said. I told him I had been doing that for three years but that he should prepare himself for a success. At Sundance we received a standing ovation and I had tears streaming down my eyes. The whole crew was there, and our big investor who was also my best friend. It was probably the happiest moment of my life. The pressure of making a film is enormous, but what I learned from that experience was to trust your emotions ­ if feel your emotions when you see your film, it will also resonate with an audience. The film has received standing ovations around the world, and an amazing response from the audience when it premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival, but that's another story...

What makes your film a must-see?

The Cove burns your retinas and etches your soul - it can stir your heart and your brain in a way that may make it hard to feel like you are the same person the next day. It may be impossible to forget this movie. The way it achieves this is through a new hybrid of a genre: it plays like a tense thriller as much as it does an intelligent documentary. The complicated interweaving story lines prove that an audience is hungry for a genre that entertains and informs and motivates them. The Cove proves that one person can make a difference and inspires others to action. Movies can be $10 and a box of popcorn, or they can use the most powerful medium to change the world.
 

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Saturday, January 9, 2010
6:00 pm
Director Louie Psihoyos and producer Fisher Stevens will be in attendance for a post-screening discussion.