The Cove won an audience award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival but will not been screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival. (Associated Press)

American director Louie Psihoyos says he's determined to get his film The Cove, about the Japanese dolphin slaughter, released in Japan.

The Tokyo International Film Festival has turned down the film, despite the fact the event's 2009 theme is protecting the environment.

The Cove follows former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry and a team of divers and tech experts who infiltrate a heavily protected cove in the town of Taiji, where dolphins are caught for entertainment purposes.

The film and the group of activists involved have been opposed by powerful Japanese interests seeking to protect the fishery.

But Psihoyos wants its message to be delivered to the Japanese people.

"I thought that if there is a God, let these animals' lives not be wasted," Psihoyos told CBC News. "If this film is successful, we'll shut down the cove."

The Cove unfolds like an espionage film as it follows a group of activists, including O'Barry and Heroes actor Hayden Panettiere, who try to interfere with the hunt. O'Barry, who trained the dolphin that played Flipper in the 1960s series, has since dedicated his life to protecting wild dolphins.

Psihoyos, a former National Geographic photographer making his first feature, said he did his best to give local authorities a voice in the documentary.

"At a meeting at the mayor's office, they said, 'We treat the dolphins like our relatives,' " Psihoyos said. "I thought they were telling the truth."

"But after two days of negotiations, [the mayor] said, 'We can't protect you if you try to get near the cove.' I had no idea what kind of horrors were in that cove. Nobody had a clue. I'm still sort of in shock."

Cove a Sundance award winner

The graphic slaughter of the final scenes drives home the filmmaker's environmental message. It took 14 covert attempts to gather enough footage.

The director said he tries to deal with other issues related to Japanese fishing practices, including overfishing, mercury poisoning and whaling.

The story of mercury levels in Japan's fish stocks has been covered by local media. But Psihoyos said a full commercial release of his film in Japan is necessary to start changing attitudes toward the rest of the fishery, especially dolphin slaughter.

The Cove won the audience award at Sundance, was hailed at Cannes and just picked up the Golden Needle at the Seattle Film Festival.

The Tokyo festival, which works with Cannes to promote ecological initiatives, has not said why it did not accept the film, he said.

The film opens this week in North America, and has been picked up for the British and European markets.

With files from The Canadian Press and CBC's The Scene