Award-winning environmental documentary “Delikado” has received an Emmy nomination.

The film, which draws focus on environmental crusaders who risk their lives protecting the rainforests of Palawan, is nominated in the Outstanding Investigative Documentary category of the 44th Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards. 

The 96-minute enviro-thriller documentary directed by journalist Karl Malakunas is eligible for an Emmy as it has screened in the US on PBS’s POV.

The film takes viewers to one of the Philippines’ top tourist destinations—Palawan. It follows lawyer and Palawan NGO Network Inc. (PNNI) executive director Robert “Bobby” Chan, then-El Nido mayor Nieves Rosento and land defender Efren “Tata” Balladares. The three fight to preserve Palawan’s natural resources from big developers, politicians, illegal loggers and others who threaten the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier.”

“Delikado” is a collaboration of award-winning filmmakers, among them two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker Marty Syjuco (producer),  “Give Up Tomorrow” director Michael Collins (producer, editor and writer), broadcast journalist and Storytellers International Inc. co-founder Kara Magsano-Alikpala (producer), and award-winning cinematographer Tom Bannigan ACS (director of photography).

The docu has also received various recognitions, including the Sustainable Future Award and Audience Award, Best Documentary #2 at the Sydney Film Festival; Special Jury Prize, Best Documentary Feature at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival; Green Dog Award For Best Environmental Documentary at Watch Docs, Poland; Special Mention, Best Documentary Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards; and Special Mention, Best International Feature at Doc Edge, New Zealand. Karl Malakunas also won a Walkley Award, Australia’s equivalent of the Pulitzer, for directing Delikado.

The News & Documentary Emmy Awards will be held at the Palladium Times Square in New York City on September 28. Also competing in the Outstanding Investigative Documentary category are HBO Max’s Escape from Kabul, Netflix’s FIFA Uncovered and I Am Vanessa Guillen, and Amazon Prime’s Flight/Risk.