MUMBAI: The Cove, a documentary about the annual dolphin hunt in the Japanese fishing village of Taiji, will be shown to Japan‘s general public for the first time at the Tokyo International Film Festival tomorrow.

The documentary features Ric O‘Barry, former dolphin trainer for the television show

Flipper, in his pursuit to stop Taiji‘s fishermen from catching and killing the mammals.

The film was added to the festival at the last minute because of growing worldwide interest in the U.S. documentary, said Tom Yoda, chairman for the event.

"We were just carefully looking at the situation overseas and there was growing attention about this film," Yoda said at a news conference on 17 September, a day after announcing the film‘s inclusion in the festival. Because the documentary "became so hot, we decided to screen this film," he said.

Japanese have been hunting dolphins for as long as 9,000 years, and Taiji‘s hunt is legal under international and domestic law, according to a website operated by the town‘s fishing association.