NOMINEE: OUTSTANDING INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY - News and Documentary Emmy Awards | WILLIAM W. WARNER AWARD - DC Environmental Film Festival | SPECIAL JURY PRIZE, BEST DOCUMENTARY - Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival | SUSTAINABLE FUTURE AWARD - Sydney Film Festival
Philippines • Land Defenders • Tourism & Climate Change • Human Rights • ActivismDate of Completion: 2021 | Run Time: 94 minutes | Language: English & Tagalog with English subtitles | Captions: Yes | Includes: Transcript & Study Guide | Director: Karl Malakunas | Producers: Karl Malakunas, Marty Syjuco, Michael Collins, & Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala | Editors: Michael Collins & Eric Daniel Metzgar | Director of Photography: Tom Bannigan
Palawan appears to be an idyllic tropical island. Its powder-white beaches and lush forests have made it one of Asia’s hottest new tourist destinations. But for a tiny network of environmental crusaders and vigilantes trying to protect its spectacular natural resources, it is more akin to a battlefield. DELIKADO follows Bobby, Tata and Nieves, three magnetic leaders of this network, as they risk their lives in David versus Goliath-style struggles trying to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier”. It is a timely film emblematic of the struggles globally for land defenders as they are being killed in record numbers trying to save natural resources from being plundered by corporations and governments. As the world faces its sixth-mass extinction and the climate emergency worsens, DELIKADO offers a story of courage and resilience to inspire others into action. It is also a unique expose of former president Rodrugo Duterte’s “war on drugs’ in the Philippines, which claimed thousands of lives and the International Criminal Court of Justice has said may amount to a crime against humanity. DELIKADO shows the drug war was used as a tool for politicians to control the levers of economic and political power. DELIKADO offers a story of courage and resilience to inspire others into action.
Hot Docs | Ravi Srinivasan
“Delikado is a timely environmental thriller on how corrupt corporate and political interests are swallowing small Indigenous communities across the globe by diminishing their resources and limiting their power, one tree at a time.”
Human Rights Watch | Luciana Tellez-Chavez, Researcher, Environment and Human Rights Division
“Delikado is an important and powerful film. The tension is palpable throughout … but so is the incredible courage of the environmental defenders portrayed.”
Golden Globe Awards | Silvia Bizio
“a timely environmental thriller”
The Sundance Institute | Paola Mottura, Director of the Documentary Film Fund
“Delikado offers a breathtaking insight into what it means to be an environmental activist in the Philippines today”
Unseen Films | Steve Kopian
“Delikado is a hell of a film….Shot like a thriller…..Be prepared to get angry.”
AWARDS
Special Jury Prize, Best Documentary | Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival
Sustainable Future Award | Sydney Film Festival
Tim Hetherington Award Nominee | Sheffield DocFest
Special Mention, Best International Documentary | Doc Edge Festival New Zealand
Best Feature Film | Newburyport Documentary Film Festival
Special Mention for Best Documentary Feature Film | Asian Pacific Screen Awards
Green Dog Award for Best Environmental Documentary | Watch Docs: Human Rights in Docs
William W. Warner Award | DC Environmental Film Festival
Best Documentary Feature: Social Impact Media Awards | SIMA Awards
Best Cinematography: Social Impact Media Awards | SIMA Awards
Green Spike Award for Best Environmental Documentary | Semana Internacional de Cine de Vallodolid
Nominee: Outstanding Investigative Documentary | News and Documentary Emmy Awards
FESTIVALS
HotDocs
Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Mountainfilm
Melbourne International Film Festival
Cinemalaya
Visioni Dal Mondo
DMZ International Documentary Film Festival
2Dok Leipzig
Seminci
Take One Action Film Festival
Inconvenient Films
Hawai’i International Film Festival
Aldeburgh Documentary Film Festival
Terraviva Film Festival
Solidarity Human Rights Film Festival
Films4Transparency
FIPADOC International Documentary Film Festival
Budapest International Documentary Festival
Human Rights Watch Film Festival, San Diego
Human Rights Watch Film Festival, London
Ecofalante de Cinema