A Filipino-made documentary about defending the forests of the country’s “last ecological frontier” was nominated for a prestigious Emmy Award.
Journalist Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala announced that “Delikado,” a documentary they produced in 2022 and has won international awards, was nominated for Outstanding Investigative Documentary at the 44th News and Documentary Emmy Awards.
Also known as the News and Documentary Emmys, awards from this event are bestowed by the US-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).
The News and Documentary Emmys are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry.
The award from this event is presented in two ceremonies — the News Categories and the Documentary Categories.
Adam Sharp, president and CEO of NATAS, said that the News and Documentary Emmys “honor the work of dedicated professionals working at the highest level of the broadcast journalism and documentary filmmaking professions.”
“They pay tribute to the journalists who bring us up-to-the-minute reporting on the critical stories of our time, and the documentary storytellers who explore important social, cultural, and political issues in great depth,” he said in a release.
“NATAS is proud to celebrate the work of this year’s nominees,” Sharp added.
The News and Documentary Emmys honor programming content from more than 2300 submissions that originally premiered in 2022.
It is judged by a pool of over 1,000 peer professionals across the television and streaming or digital media news and documentary industry.
Meanwhile, Kara expressed her elation after their work was nominated for the Outstanding Investigative Documentary category at the distinguished awards show.
“STUNNED. ‘Delikado’ is nominated for an Emmy!!!!!” she wrote on Facebook on Friday, July 28 with emojis of a face-screaming-with-fear.
The Facebook page of “Delikado” also announced the “brilliant and unexpected” news to its supporters.
“What a smashing validation of the legendary, inspirational land defenders of Palawan!” the page said on Friday.
“Thank you to the massive team around the world who came together to create Delikado,” it added.
The team thanked people and the entities it had partnered with to bring the documentary to fruition and tell its story to the world.
“Join the campaign to #DefendtheDefenders to stand up against corruption, defend human rights and support the fight to protect our planet,” it said.
It added a link where people can sign a petition urging the European Union to hold businesses accountable for their impacts on human rights, the environment, and the climate.
The film
“Delikado” is a documentary that follows three leaders as they try to prevent businessmen and officials from destroying the forests of Palawan, an island province that has been dubbed as the “last ecological frontier.”
Palawan is endowed with rich natural resources and highly diverse flora and fauna that are found in both land and sea.
It has diverse terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, which are composed of old-growth and second-growth tropical rainforest, karstic limestone, forest over ultramafic rocks, casuarinas, and beach forest.
“Delikado” centers on Bobby Chan, a Palawan-based environmental lawyer who heads a small group of land defenders that go on expeditions into the forests to peacefully confiscate chainsaws of illegal loggers.
They also try to protect the island province’s rich marine life by confiscating cyanide fishing gear.
The documentary also features Nieves Rosento, El Nido’s mayor at the time of the filming and an ally of the activists defending her hometown’s natural resources.
It is produced by Kara, Karl Malakunas, Marty Syjuco and Michael Collins.
Michael and Marty were also behind the award-winning documentary “Give Up Tomorrow” which tells the other side of the Chiong sisters case.