Filmmaker & director Louie Psihoyos at film festival with his film The Cove

November 6, 1:50 PMActing ExaminerDeborah Smith Ford

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  Louie Psihoyos                                                              (Photo/NIFF)

Louis (Louie) Psihoyos is internationally known for his still photography and contributions to National Geographic. Psihoyos is also a licensed scuba-diver and has become increasingly concerned with bringing awareness to underwater life.

Psihoyos took an interest in photography at the age of fourteen, and he attended the University of Missouri, majoring in photojournalism. In 1980, at the age of twenty-three, Psihoyos was hired by National Geographic and remained with the magazine for seventeen years.

Louie Psihoyos has received multiple awards for his photography, including first place in the World Press Contest and the Hearst Award. He has also worked with magazines such as Smithsonian, Discover, GEO, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Rock and Ice.

In 2005 Psihoyos co-founded the non-profit organization, Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS). The objective of OPS is to educate the public on what is happening to 70% of our planet and promote individuals to make a difference so that future generations will have an enriched environment, not a diminishing one.

In 2009 Psihoyos directed and starred in the feature-length documentary The Cove.  Together with Ric O'Barry, Jim Clark, and a team of specially selected crew members, they filmed the feature-length documentary The Cove.

The Cove was released in 2009, and the film's goal is to bring worldwide attention to the yearly killing of 23,000 dolphins in Taiji, Japan.

Unable to acquire permission from the Japanese government, the filmmakers were required to go to extreme lengths in order to obtain the footage, utilizing equipment and tactics never previously used in a documentary film. The movie also features the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and IWC's refusal to protect small cetaceans, such as dolphins, primarily due to Japan's influence on the commission.

The Cove acknowledges the risk of mercury poisoning to humans who consume dolphin meat while documenting the Japanese government's program to distribute dolphin meat to Japanese school children.

All this and more were shared by Psihoyos during his guest appearance at NIFF (Naples International Film Festiival) in Naples, Florida on November 5, 2009.  He and his film were in attendance due to the weekend long festival. ~ Save the dolphin & Take Part