Blackfish Screenings

Wil Tierney

Having heard about Blackfish on the radio last week I was very excited to go see it in the cinema. A quick Google search showed it is only being screened in Eye cinema, Galway and Light House cinema, Dublin.

Has anyone any idea why this film is not being screened in more locations?

krudler

Pretty limited release, I didnt realise it was on in Galway might take a jaunt up there for it. It'll probably be on VOD or netflix soon enough

Wil Tierney

krudler wrote: »

Pretty limited release, I didnt realise it was on in Galway might take a jaunt up there for it. It'll probably be on VOD or netflix soon enough

Ya I was happy to see it was on in Galway too but was hoping to bring a friend to go see it who is crazy about killer whales. Unfortunately they live in Laois so might have to wait for dvd.

Miguel_Sanchez

Wil Tierney wrote: »

Has anyone any idea why this film is not being screened in more locations?

It's hard for a documentary about killer whales to compete with Hollywood blockbusters. The fact that it made it outside of Dublin at all is something in itself!

Wil Tierney

Miguel_Sanchez wrote: »

It's hard for a documentary about killer whales to compete with Hollywood blockbusters. The fact that it made it outside of Dublin at all is something in itself!

I get what you are saying. This type of film rarely gets past Dublin but the fact that its only being shown in cinemas in Ireland is what I don't get. Looking on the website its being shown on over 20 in England.

marco_polo

It actually down for DVD release on the 26th August, so you won't have to wait that long.

http://vodzilla.co/reviews/blackfish-dives-onto-vod-and-dvd-this-august/

Niamho!

I don't know why more people are not interested in this movie.

I went to see it today and I can't explain how I feel... I left feeling terribly sad.

It is no wonder that these Whales attack/react the way they do. I would imagine they feel intense frustration at their treatment. It's just unfortunate that the person who gets it is the trainer. The shows need to be done away with. Poor oul creatures...

I recommend checking it out if you can.

Creasy_bear

Niamho! wrote: »

I don't know why more people are not interested in this movie.

I went to see it today and I can't explain how I feel... I left feeling terribly sad.

It is no wonder that these Whales attack/react the way they do. I would imagine they feel intense frustration at their treatment. It's just unfortunate that the person who gets it is the trainer. The shows need to be done away with. Poor oul creatures...

I recommend checking it out if you can.

I went to see it tonight myself. Really enjoyed it as I love killer whales/sharks. I'd like to know how long the trainers at sea world were collecting their pay cheques, before they decided to have a change of heart. That bald trainer in particular.

The sea world management are some bunch.

Hrududu

I caught it too and found it fascinating. I'd love to have learned more about what the trainers moved onto once they left Sea World.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Planning to see this tomorrow and I'm just wondering.... is it a popcorn kind of film? I've never seen a documentary in the cinema so I'm not sure if it's the done thing?

Kablamo!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Planning to see this tomorrow and I'm just wondering.... is it a popcorn kind of film? I've never seen a documentary in the cinema so I'm not sure if it's the done thing?

I went to it in the lighthouse and people were milling into the popcorn.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Kablamo! wrote: »

I went to it in the lighthouse and people were milling into the popcorn.

Good to know

Amirani

Considering heading along to this tonight. It's a toss up with Wadjda at the moment.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I didn't get to go as planned today. I've been wanting to see it for weeks but stuff keeps getting in the way. So I just pre ordered the DVD, should get it next week.

podgemonster

This is on in Dun Laoghaire IMC until August 29th from the looks of. Will be going this weekend!

Kablamo!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I didn't get to go as planned today. I've been wanting to see it for weeks but stuff keeps getting in the way. So I just pre ordered the DVD, should get it next week.

Going to sit down and watch it tonight- looking forward to seeing it again.
What did you think of it?

Zombienosh

I want to go see this next week, it's still on in Lighthouse cinema.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Kablamo! wrote: »

Going to sit down and watch it tonight- looking forward to seeing it again.
What did you think of it?

I haven't actually watched it yet. I haven't been in a great mood and given the subject matter of this I didn't want to watch it when already feeling a bit ****ty. I studied Zoology at college and would consider myself very anti captivity so I think I need to be in a cheery mood to watch this otherwise I'll probably throw the TV out the window in a rage

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Finally watched it. Pretty disappointed to be honest.

I must point out that I went to Dublin Zoo when I was about 4 and saw Polar Bears (my mum argues it was Pandas) sitting hunched over doing nothing and all their white fur was a dirty brown colour and I cried my eyes out because I knew they were sad and shouldn't be there.
My Junior Cert art project was entitled "Freedom" and I spent the whole year working on a project about Orca's being kept in captivity. I studied Zoology at college with the intention of working in wildlife conservation.

Basically..... I would consider myself very well educated on the subject of animals in captivity and the business behind it. As such I don't really feel like this documentary was aimed at me. It didn't shed any light on anything I didn't already know. I suppose it did shed further light on exactly what lengths SeaWorld will go to to protect their money. They seem to care as little about human life as they do about animals.

It felt like an anti SeaWorld documentary rather than an anti captivity documentary. I suppose that's what it was but it's such a bigger issue than just SeaWorld. Could they exist without the airlines that transport their animals? Could they exist without the positive press they receive? Could they exist without public ignorance, or worse, apathy to the situation? There are also a lot of other parks where the animals are kept in much worse conditions to the ones in SeaWorld.

I've seen countless reviews and comments where people say "Oh, I'll never go to SeaWorld again!" and I can't help thinking why did you go in the first place? Where did they think the animals came from? Did they really think they were happy in a tiny pool when they were taken from the vast expanses of the open ocean? Did they never think that if they're smart enough to learn how to perform that they must be pretty smart generally, too smart to be locked in cages for human entertainment? I'm not saying everyone should be as informed or educated on the issue as someone who has long taken an interest in it but it really seems like people should have questioned these things themselves. Not to sound naive but it baffles me how a generation that grew up seeing Free Willy would not even think to question these things?

I'll admit I felt sorry for the trainers, which I didn't think I would. I still think they should have known what they were doing on the whole was wrong, but it did seem like once they were in it was difficult to just walk away from the animals. They seemed to genuinely care about them even if it was misguided. Also the fact that you needed zero knowledge or experience with the animals to work there should have set off alarm bells. I suppose anyone who did study these animals, or marine biology in general would never go near a place like SeaWorld.

I understand that SeaWorld didn't want to speak to the people making this but I found it odd that they didn't speak to the family members of any of the people killed, bar that one guy in Spain. There was no explanation for their absence either. Did they just decline an invite or have they been paid off? I mean they blamed Dawn Brancheau for her own death. I find it hard to believe that not one member of her family would have something to say about that. Her sister briefly appearing at the end to say she was great didn't really cut it for me.

I've completely lost my train of thought here but basically I suppose if you've never given any thought at all to this issue then Blackfish is probably quite an eye opener and I suppose it will do some good if it makes people stop and think about what they're giving their money to at these kind of attractions.

Mainly though I come away a bit sad at how much ignorance and apathy still exists around this issue.

krudler

Watched it earlier, was pretty shocking seeing how much lies SeaWorld put out about the environment, the facts about the orcas and the deaths of the trainers. Them blaming Dawn Brancheau for her death was sickening.
You can't help but feel bad for the whales, Tilikum especially, how depressing it is to see something as big as him just bobbing up and down in a tank until he's called to splash around for a crowd of tourists. I didn't realise so few orcas in the wild get the drooped over dorsal fin he has I figured it was just what happened when they got older.
I've been to SeaWorld and found the orca show really dodgy moral wise but after seeing the extent of what it's really like past the smiles and sunshine aspect SeaWorld put out I'd never go back there again.

kryogen

I think it fulfils its goal of raising awareness in those who know little to nothing about the subject matter. That is a good thing. Some very sad moments in it

Kablamo!

kryogen wrote: »

I think it fulfils its goal of raising awareness in those who know little to nothing about the subject matter. That is a good thing. Some very sad moments in it

Yeah, I'd imagine it's meant to appeal to a broader market. If it gets more people interested in animal welfare/ captivity, happy days.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

kryogen wrote: »

I think it fulfils its goal of raising awareness in those who know little to nothing about the subject matter. That is a good thing. Some very sad moments in it

I agree. I think it was made with the idea that it's audience didn't know any of this stuff and if you didn't know any of it I'm sure it was shocking to find out. My only worry is that people will come away saying Boo, Sea Word! rather than Boo captivity! Then again some people might come away thinking Sea World can't be the only place that does this, or they can't be the only ones to blame and then go and look into it more. All good things.

EDIT: Just as a matter of interest... Kablamo asked me if I could recommend some stuff about whales and I remembered this documentary I'd seen a few years ago, Lolita Slave To Entertainment, about Lolita, an Orca at Miami Seaquarium. I found it again on youtube and it's remarkably similar to Blackfish. I'm not accusing anyone of anything but even the graphics of the Orca's being chased into the cove are remarkably similar.

Outkast_IRE

Have just watched this now. I am still dwelling on what I have watched.

I went into watching it with what I would call a decent knowledge of the issues of keeping intelligent mammals in captivity. I would read a lot and have an interest in animal welfare etc.

What I didn't realise was just how family orientated the pods in the wild are. I didn't know that different populations of orcas keep separate etc. and to be honest I didn't realise the level of emotional intelligence and general intelligence that orcas were capable of. Overall the most moving part of the movie for me was when they were hunting them down in the wild to rob the calves, utterly disgusting thing to do and you could see in the interview how disturbed the man was by taking part in it.

I watched the movie with my other half after she expressed an interest in going to one of these parks, and I think it has changed her views entirely. I don't think she associated marine mammals as capable of such emotion etc.

Overall it was an hour and a half well spent, and I found it interesting from beginning to end. Well worth watching

losthorizon

Wil Tierney wrote: »

Having heard about Blackfish on the radio last week I was very excited to go see it in the cinema. A quick Google search showed it is only being screened in Eye cinema, Galway and Light House cinema, Dublin.

Has anyone any idea why this film is not being screened in more locations?

I saw it on BBC 4 a few months ago - a terribly sad movie but a great one as well. I would never go to Sea world after seeing it. Have watched a few other docs and programmes about whales and dolphins since and my beliefs about them have changed. They are one of the few animals that feel empathy along with Monkeys and apes, elephants and ourselves. They are also fairly intelligent as the film shows and in the case of orcas can be violent if needs be.

With the case presented by Blackfish Im surprised Seaworld is still open or that people still feel the need to go. There are boat trips you can take in the wild to see them if you feel the need and surely thats more rewarding?

I'm sure BBC 4 will repeat it at some stage.