The renowned international activist and star of the documentary The Cove, guest of honor at this year’s DREFF, received a special recognition from the Academia del Cine República Dominicana (ACRD), presented Thursday night September 11, for its dedication and commitment to the eradication of torture practices to marine mammals, as well as the release into the environment of all dolphins and whales that are kept in captivity.

O ‘Barry, who is the protagonist of the documentary The Cove, received the award from renowned Dominican marine biologist Dr. Idelisa Bonnelly de Calventi. The documentary, starring O’Barry itself, was screened at the event. The production has won eleven international awards, among which are presented: the Audience Award at the 25th US Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award for Best Documentary in 2009.

The environmental activist, who is also the creator of the Dolphin Project (www.dolphinproject.org), also participated in a conference on Marine Mammals in Captivity with panelists’ Adolfo López of the Environmental Commission of the Academy of Sciences and the marine biologist Oswaldo Vasquez.

During his speech, O’Barry urged the Dominican population to become aware of the problem of overfishing, pollution and captivity of dolphins. “It is important to educate people on these issues both locally and globally,” said marine mammal expert. Also thanked the former president of the Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernández, to prevent, during his tenure, import 12 dolphins that were captured during the Taiji dolphin hunting in Japan a few years ago.

The Cove is an American documentary film that describes the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji National Park, Wakayama in Japan, from the point of view of environmentalists and marine mammal experts recognized.

Ric O’Barry is a former dolphin trainer who after seeing the terrible consequences captivity and forced labor has done to marine mammals, decided to devote the rest of his life to vigorously combating the captivity of these animals. He created the Dolphin Project, an international organization dedicated to the eradication of torture practices to marine mammals and release into the wild of all dolphins and whales that are kept in captivity.

This event is part of the activities of the IV edition of the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival, an initiative of GFDD and FUNGLODE.

Visit www.dreff.org to get access to the full program of the IV DREFF. You can also support the sustainable development conversation promoted by GFDD by following @GFDDorg and @MuestraCine in Twitter and using the hashtags #RDsostenible and #DREFF.