Delikado

2022 • 56’, 91’ • USA • English, Tagalog

Within the idyllic Philippine tourist destination of Palawan, forests and wildlife are being destroyed by illegal loggers and President Duterte’s cronies. Despite extreme mortal danger, a small troop of environmental crusaders risk their lives to catch the culprits in the act and prevent the thieving and destruction of their homeland.

Director:
Karl Malakunas

Producers:
Marty Syjuco, Michael Collins, Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

  • Award: Special Jury Mention
    — LA Asian Pacific 2022

    Tim Hetherington Award [Nominee]
    — Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival 2022

    Sustainable Future Award
    — Sydney Film Festival 2022

    Special Mention
    — Asian Pacific Screen Awards 2022

    Best Documentary
    — Walkley Award 2022

    Shortlisted
    — IDA Awards 2022

    Best Feature Film
    — Newburyport Documentary Film Festival 2022

    Green Spike Award
    — Valladolid IFF 2022

    Green Dog Award
    — Watch Docs: Human Rights in Docs 2022

    William W. Warner Beautiful Swimmers Award
    — Environmental Film Festival 2023

    IMPACTE! Award to Human Values
    — IMPACTE!·Human Rights Film Festival of Catalonia 2023

    News & Documentary [Nominated]
    — Emmy Awards 2023

    FICMEC Adventure Best Film
    — The International Environmental Film Festival of the Canary Islands 2023

    Grand Prize
    — Blue Planet Future Festival 2023

    Award: Jury Special Mention
    — BIFED - Bozcaada International Festival of Ecological Documentary 2023

    Hot Docs 2022 [World Premiere] — In Competition
    CAAMFest 2022
    Mountainfilm 2022
    DocEdge 2022
    Sydney Film Festival 2022
    Human Rights Watch FF New York 2022
    Melbourne International Film Festival 2022
    Dokufest 2022
    Cinemalaya 2022
    Visioni dal Mondo 2022
    DMZ International Documentary Film Festival 2022
    Take One Action 2022
    Inconvenient Films 2022
    DOK Leipzig 2022
    Guelph Film Festival 2022
    Hawaii International Film Festival 2022
    Terraviva Film Festival 2022
    Aldeburgh Film Festival 2022
    International Bastau Documentary Film Festival 2022
    Solidarity Human Rights Film Festival 2022
    FIPADOC 2023
    Budapest International Documentary Festival 2023
    Human Rights Watch Film Festival San Diego 2023
    Friends of the Earth Malta 2023
    HIFF Hana Hou Festival 2023
    Human Rights Watch FF London 2023
    One World Int'l Human Rights Film Festival 2023
    ZagrebDox 2023
    Riviera International Film Festival 2023
    Doxa Documentary Film Festival 2023
    Dear Future Festival Zukunftsgestalten 2023
    Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival 2023
    Ecofalante Environmental Film Festival 2023
    Seoul Eco Film Festival 2023
    CinemAmbiente Environmental Film Festival 2023
    Darwin International Film Festival 2023
    Le Grand Bivouac Film Festival 2023
    Another Way Film Festival 2023
    Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival 2023
    Globale Mittelhessen Film Festival 2023
    Greenmotions Film Festival 2023
    Green Visions 2024
    BIFED Lemnos 2024
    Beyond Borders International Film Festival 2024
    Dili International Film Festival 2024
    Innsbruck Nature Film Festival 2024

Filmmaker’s Biography

Karl Malakunas is a filmmaker and journalist who has been based in Asia—covering environmental issues, conflict, natural disasters and political upheavals—for two decades. Karl is the Asia-Pacific Deputy-Editor-In-Chief for Agence France-Presse based in Hong Kong. He is a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Fellow and a recipient of the SFFILM Vulcan Productions Environmental Fellowship. After living in the Philippines for eight years while working as Manila Bureau Chief for AFP, Karl has drawn on his experiences, contacts and deep inside knowledge of the country to make DELIKADO, his first feature film. His environmental reporting around the world has included covering the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the eastern Philippines, and the coal-powered rise of China’s economy.