| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, November 18, 2017 | 6:00PM - 8:00PM | External Event, Innis Town Hall Theatre University of Toronto 2 Sussex Avenue Toronto, ON |
*The registration for this event has now been closed. Rush tickets will be available but entries are not guaranteed. Please arrive 30 minutes before the show at the Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave (entrance off of St. George St.).*
Japan 2017
95:00
English, Japanese with English subtitles
PG • Canadian Premiere
DIRECTOR
Megumi Sasaki
CAST
Jay Alabaster
In the once quiet seaside village of Taiji in Wakayama prefecture, the local whaling practice has become synonymous with animal abuse since Louie Psihoyos’s film The Cove won the 2009 Oscar for Best Documentary.
Years later, filmmaker Megumi Sasaki offers a more balanced examination of the small fishing community, focusing on points of contact and communication between both sides of the conflict—environmentalism versus tradition—in ways that The Cove did not.
A Whale of a Tale does not attempt to resolve what will remain an ideological deadlock between the foreign activists who have devoted years to their cause, and agricultural workers who have developed a long-standing tradition passed on to the next generation. Instead, in a global climate where opposing sides are communicating at each other instead of with each other, Sasaki succeeds in allowing us to give pause—and listen to what the other side has to say.
Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Megumi Sasaki was an anchor, reporter and news director for NHK Television, Japan’s public broadcasting network. Her first feature-length documentary Herb & Dorothy (2008), about legendary New York art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel, won top honors at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Philadelphia Film Festival, SILVERDOCS and others. In 2013, she directed a follow-up documentary titled Herb & Dorothy 50X50, which had nationwide theatrical distribution in the U.S. and Japan. A Whale of a Tale is her third feature-length documentary.
The film screening will be followed by a conversation between the filmmaker and Professor Takashi Fujitani, Director of the Dr. David Chu Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, Asian Institute.
Please note, registration opens 30 minutes before showtime. Please arrive early as all tickets become void as of 15 minutes before showtime.
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