Special screening of Academy Award-winning eco-documentary at The Poly on Earth Day

University College Falmouth (UCF) and its MA Art & Environment course are pleased to present a special screening of Academy award-winning documentary film, The Cove, at The Poly in Falmouth's Church Street at 7.30pm on Thursday 22 April followed by a Q&A discussion led by environmental and conservation author, Leah Lemieux.

The Cove and Leah's new book - Rekindling the Waters: The Truth About Swimming with Dolphins - are a fitting way in which to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment on Earth Day. Both expose the shocking and unexpected truths that surround swimming with captive dolphins.

In March this year, The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary film following its world premier at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film documents the daring crusade of an elite group of activists and filmmakers as they strive to uncover a dark secret involving human rights abuse and the covert killing of thousands of dolphins, hidden beneath the infamous waters of The Cove.

Director, Louie Psihoyos has used material from the life of Richard O'Barry, who captured and trained the five dolphins that were used in the popular television series, Flipper. After four decades, O'Barry renounced this life and become an animal rights activist, speaking out against the hunting of aquatic mammals and their captivity.

The Cove is the story of O'Barry's search for redemption that offers beautiful underwater imagery and a shocking portrayal of the abuse of dolphins and the poisoning of waters by the fishermen of a Japanese town.

Jason Buchanan in the All Movie Guide writes: "The filmmakers knew that they had an important message to convey to the world, and they smartly did so in a fashion that's compelling and consistently entertaining. This is a rare documentary with all the tension of an action-packed summer blockbuster, but with real-life consequences for the people involved."

Leah Lemieux has lectured, written and worked on dolphin protection, education and conservation issues for twenty years, collaborating with individuals and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from a number of countries. She was part of the film making team for The Cove and is currently involved with Roots & Shoots, The Jane Goodall Institutes' environmental and humanitarian programme, and The Laughing Toad Tree Nursery.

Rekindling the Waters: The Truth About Swimming with Dolphins explores why the popular activity of swimming with dolphins has become so controversial and how it places both dolphins and the unsuspecting human participants in harm's way.

Dr. Lori Marino, Neuroscientist and Professor at Emory University comments: "I have studied dolphins and whales for close to twenty years and, without a doubt, this book is the most powerful treatise on the ethics of dolphin captivity I have ever read! Lemieux presents a unique combination of gut-wrenching personal accounts and right-on-target scientific findings."

Rekindling the Waters: The Truth About Swimming with Dolphins is available from publishers, Troubador Publishing Ltd, http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=722

ISBN: 9781848760578

Tickets for the special screening of The Cove at The Poly are available from National Maritime Museum Cornwall, telephone 01326 313388 and cost £6 (concessions £5, students £4). The proceeds will be divided between The Poly and Leah's dolphin charity, Save Japan Dolphins Coalition http://www.savejapandolphins.org/

If you require any special assistance to help you attend any of our events or have questions about event accessibility, please get in touch by emailing events@falmouth.ac.uk or telephoning 01326 213756.

For further information about MA Art & Environment at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/maart/environment, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 213730

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name.  It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unique to the South West.

The University College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

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For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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