Pictures |
SYNC |
Voice over |
Roi walks in nature |
(danish) Roi: I was 6 years old when we got our first boat. I go out to fish… i return home With all the fish i catch. This is all we have – and I think It’s a shame if we can’t use what We have.. |
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Roi prepares boat |
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20 year old Rói Olsen (Roy Olsen) voksede op her ved Skalafjord in the Faroe
Islands. |
Roi prepares boat |
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Last weekend (Sunday the
12th September) Roi wasn’t
supposed To go out sailing at all… |
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(Danish) I wake up a normal Sunday morning.. Im going to the town to watch a handball match… Then we start to hear a rumor That a kill is imminent… |
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A huge herd of dolphins – or Springers as the locals call
them - are spotted on the sea.. And the rumor
quickly gets to Roi Olsen. |
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Then the message gets to us – That they are in fact here – and then there is only ONE thing to do. Get back quickly |
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Private recording from boat. |
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Together with other locals Roi Olsen sets
out after the herd |
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STILLS of dead dolphins |
(VO Soundbites various news outlets:) |
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English: More than 1400 dolphins has been killed in a record breaking slaughter. English: This is possible the largest single hunt of the animal ever recorded. German: … French: … |
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Video from Activist-site Sea Shepherd of dead dolphins on beach. |
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Within an hour, 1428 white- sided Atlantic dolphins are killed on the beach. |
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ROI: VO That’s when I realise… wow that is a lot. We thought there was about 500… I haven’t expected it to be that many. |
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Footage from the beach is shared by the activist group Sea Shepard - and quickly receives Worldwide attention |
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But the dolphin killing
in Skalafjord also creates fierce debate among the Faroese. A poll shows
that more than
half of the population
distance themselves from
what Happened… |
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… and the internal divide culminated in a live TV debate on Faroese Television… where
the Minister of Fisheries defended the events
in Skalafjord. |
TV Debate |
((Minister of Fisheries Jakob Vestergaard)) -I know the men who killed the dolphins and appointed them grinder-chairman. They know their job really well – and that's what we saw. |
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TV Debate |
((member of parliament Sjúrður Skaale)) -You refuse to enter a dialogue about it, and that is what the threat is. There is no national agreement. The majority is against and you refuse to talk to people - You wall yourself inside the Ministry of Fisheries and say I shit on it all just keep going! And that's how you undermine our Situation… |
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TV Debate |
((Minister of Fisheries Jakob Vestergaard)) No no, sweet you. YOU have been undermining it for several days – and you’re continuing Here tonight! |
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Close ups of Sjoudur Skaale |
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Sjurdor Skaale has for many years defended the killings of grind whales - but is one of
those who believe that the future
of the Faroe Islands is at stake - if one refuses to listen to the outside world's reactions to The dolphin killing. |
Interview sjoudor skaale |
We do not live by killing dolphins. We live by selling salmon to the world, selling cod to the world - we live by tourists, by the business there is here. We do not live by killing dolphins - and we cannot sacrifice the one for the other. |
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Roi in the boat |
((Music - Roi VO)) I can well understand that people think it is too much. And I'm fully aware of that. But I can also see that of course we have to kill them. It's the only thing we have here in the Faroe Islands. We do not have a large market for pigs and cows, so it is a pity that we cannot use what we have. We go against ourselves… |
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((Roi points in the fjord.)) |
SB: - |
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((VO)) No matter if it's a jumper or a grind whale. Both are food here for the people of the Faroe Islands. |
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Old footage from archives. |
Old VO: |
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Grind-killing is a more
than 400- year-old tradition
originally to gather food for the
winter season - and the bloody
images have created debate for Decades. |
FAMILY PHOTOS |
VO (voice of Jens Jakob) I grew up with grind killing as a good and natural thing. We got off school when there was a kill. Then we got out and got our feet wet and cut up the whales for a bit. ((picture with small kid on whale)) Here I am 4-5 years old… It’s the late 70s… (picture with knife)) I got a knife from my parents. |
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Close up of Jens Jakob Hansen In kitchen. |
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Jens Jakob Hansen has been a passionate whale-catcher for
many years… |
Walks to look in the freezer |
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Out of the 1428 dolphins, Roi Olsen got to keep the meat from four of them
for his efforts… |
Jens Jakob hammers the beef |
VO: What we usually do is to put The beef in salt… |
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Roi and Jens Jakob stands in kitchen. |
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Jens Jakub believes that Roi and
the others went too far in the Killing in the Skalafjord… |
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VO - danish: Almost 1500 are too many .. |
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Jens Jakob talks to Roi. |
In Faroese: I do not think you should have hunted the whales in there. Roi: If you look at how big the beach is, then it was right to drive them in there. If it was in Klaksvig (northern city), it would have been chaos. Jens: I think you deserved it - and I like the steaks - but I do not think you should have done it. |
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The great pressure from the outside world - and also internally
in the Faroe Islands after the dolphin
killing - can now mean that the
rules for dolphin killing will be changed Forever. |
The food is served. |
VO Jens Jakob: When you want to be someone, and be a part of something - then it has everything to do with community and feeling that you belong somewhere… And that has been the case in the Faroe Islands… everyone has agreed that killing whales is a Good thing. |
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VO Roi If they (the dolphins) come here again in the Skalafjord .. Yes - then I will be out there Again. |
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Roi: |
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But .. We are not doing anything Wrong. |
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