BLACKFISH: WHY SEAWORLD DOCUMENTARY WAS SNUBBED

Although the film Blackfish, an exposé of marine animal parks, was arguably the most-discussed documentary of 2013 and a hit at the box office, where it grossed $2 million, the film did not receive an Oscar nomination — and director Gabriela Cowperthwaite thinks she knows why. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she observed, “A lot of times the documentaries that do well [in the Oscar voting] have a lot of original footage, and a lot of the footage in Blackfish is archival [some showing attacks on trainers by orcas]. … I wanted this to be an airtight document that could be launched out there and do work in spite of me, without filmmaker craft — a fact-based narrative that could do good work in the world.” However, Fred Jacobs, a spokesman for SeaWorld, told the Times that his company has developed a website to counter what he maintains is biased propaganda throughout the movie. “Blackfish is a dishonest and manipulative film and we wanted to create a place where anyone with questions about SeaWorld or how we are being portrayed could find the truth,” he said. Commented the Times: “The film may no longer be a part of the awards conversation, but it doesn’t look like people are going to stop talking about it anytime soon.”