Killer whales at SeaWorld are looked at and the truth about their conditions and abuse are shown in the new documentary, BLACKFISH. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite went inside SeaWorld to show how Orcas turn on their handlers and how the animals suffer from being shipped around the world and treated abusively. It is a striking film that is shared here on BYOD with clips and in-depth discussion.
FILM AND GUEST INFO:
Blackfish - Many of us have experienced the excitement and awe of watching 8,000 pound orcas, or "killer whales," soar out of the water and fly through the air at sea parks, as if in perfect harmony with their trainers. Yet this mighty black and white mammal has many sides -- a majestic, friendly giant, seemingly eager to take trainers for a ride around the pool, yet shockingly -- and unpredictably -- able to turn on them at a moment's notice. BLACKFISH unravels the complexities of this dichotomy, employing the story of notorious performing whale Tilikum, who -- unlike any orca in the wild -- has taken the lives of several people while in captivity. So what went wrong?
Shocking, never before seen footage and riveting interviews with trainers and experts manifest the orca's extraordinary nature, the species' cruel treatment in captivity over the last four decades and the growing disillusionment of workers who were misled and endangered by the highly profitable sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans truly know about these highly intelligent, and surprisingly sentient, fellow mammals that we only think we can control.
Gabriela Cowperthwaite - Gabriela Cowperthwaite is a documentary filmmaker who for more than 12 years has directed, produced and written documentary programs for television networks including ESPN, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery and History.
In 2010, Cowperthwaite completed the award winning feature length documentary, City LAX: An Urban Lacrosse Story. The film chronicles the lives of six 12-year-olds in inner-city Denver, CO, as they and their families struggle through middle school in their gang-ridden neighborhoods. City LAX was acquired by ESPN and DirectTV.
In 2009, Cowperthwaite completed a film for UCLA International Medicine in conjunction with the International Rescue Committee, which focuses on clinics in war-torn regions, with the emphasis on providing ground-breaking medical care for victims of violence. It has been translated into three different languages and will be distributed in eight countries.
Cowperthwaite, who is Los Angeles based, is currently directing a campaign for Supply and Demand, a commercial directing agency based in New York and Los Angeles.
Category : Documentary
Language: English
Runtime : 1
:23:04Updated :
11/03/2013
When Bobby dies in a car accident he is not allowed to enter heaven but has to stay in one of the lower levels until he has worked enough as an guardian angel in order to deserve paradise. One of his jobs is Lenny, a gifted boy, who loves his schoolmate Sharon who is the most beautiful girl of the class. But she does not even notice him so that he is about to commit suicide. Bobby prevents this and dresses Lenny up making him a playboy and tough guy so that he gets what he wants although Bobby knows that this is not the best. Thinking that his job is done, Bobby realizes that Lenny's mother is his former girlfriend who has married another guy. Although not being allowed he makes himself visible to her. 
70 years after a horrific alien war, an unusually gifted child is sent to an advanced military school in space to prepare for a future invasion.
Shaun Boswell, who has always been an outsider. A loner at school, his only connection to the indifferent world around him is through illegal street racing -- which has made him particularly unpopular with the local authorities. To avoid jail time, Shaun is sent out of the country to live with his uncle in the military, in a cramped apartment in a low-rent section of Tokyo. In the land that gave birth to the majority of modified racers on the road, the simple street race has been replaced by the ultimate pedal-to-the-metal, gravity-defying automotive challenge ... drift racing, a deadly combination of brutal speed on heart stopping courses of hairpin turns and switchbacks. For his first unsuccessful foray in drift racing, Shaun unknowingly takes on D.K., the "Drift King," with ties to the Yakuza, the Japanese crime machine. The only way he can pay off the debt of his loss is to venture into the deadly realm of the Tokyo underworld, where the stakes are life and death.
Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, probably known best for his work on Runaway Train and Tango & Cash to American audiences and Andrei Rublev (which he wrote with frequent collaborator Andrei Tartovsky) or Uncle Vanya for those who know their arthouse films, this film is certainly unique. A family film that was maybe a tad too dark for its own good, with rats dressed up in uniforms that, let's say are inspired by the fashions of Hugo Boss; electrocuted sharks, and did I forget to mention the Holocaust allegory? It's the rare children's film to have a complete 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, really. Is it really THAT bad?
