THEATERS DEFY JAPANESE PROTESTERS, AGREE TO SHOW “THE COVE”

Although angry protests outside three theaters in Japan forced them to cancel screenings of the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, which deals with the slaughter of dolphins in the Japanese village of Taiji, six other theaters have agreed to show it, distributor Unplugged said today (Monday). The cancellation had prompted much debate around the country over whether the film represented an assault on Japanese culture, as the protesters had claimed. But a group of Japanese journalists, academics, and filmmakers said last week that the ban on the film underscores “the weakness of freedom of speech in Japan” and urged that the movie be allowed to be shown without further incident.