Seattle International Film Festival 2009

Dolphins are damned smart. Our fellow mammals are capable of much more than somersaulting in unison and fetching fish, and The Cove intends to blow the lid off that tank once and for all. The man who trained Flipper, activist Richard O’Barry, propels this exposé of Japan’s dolphin trade. He has spent time on both sides of the dolphin street—the first ten years in the dolphin captivity industry and the past 38 years against it. Since Earth Day 1970, O'Barry has sought to free captive dolphins that were viable candidates. The Cove follows O'Barry to its Japanese namesake, where images of friendly dolphins color the urban landscape. Still, the public is mostly unaware of the extent of the animals' mistreatment. The crew on this Oceans Eleven-style mission includes filmmaker Louie Psihoyos (a longtime National Geographic photographer and diver) and a team of activists and producers, including one whose credit reads Clandestine Operations. O'Barry's band of outsiders proceeds with anarchic vigor. They thwart and enrage the local authorities in order to get their message on the radar. Part environmental documentary, part horror film, part spy thriller, The Cove is as suspenseful as it is enlightening as it shows exactly what film can do in the hands of those who aren’t afraid to risk it all for their cause.

Eerily echoing the story of the musical it is about, Every Little Step follows the casting of Bob Avian's 2006 revival of one of the most widely produced Broadway shows ever, “A Chorus Line.” But this hugely entertaining documentary adds another layer, examining the genesis of the show through the recorded workshop interviews with Broadway dancers that creator-choreographer Michael Bennett used as the basis of that startlingly original work. A treat for anyone who loves musical theater, the film is cause for hip-swaying, high-kicking celebration. The filmmakers are granted extraordinary behind-the-scenes access, and the performers give everything they’ve got. Featuring some of the original cast as well as the aspiring dancers who hope to revive those roles—as aspiring dancers—the film mesmerizes with the various interpretations of each character from different generational perspectives. Directors Sony Stern and Adam Del Deo deftly follow the process from the heartbreak of rejection to the exhilaration of being chosen. Cutting gracefully between Avian’s high-pressure auditions and the archive material, Stern and Del Deo have created a film of nail-biting intensity that matches its subject step for step. “Life imitating art imitating life,” as Variety so aptly put it.