Delikado

Karl Malakunas

Australia / Hong Kong / USA / Filipinas / United Kingdom

- 2022

Opta a: Espiga Verde

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’.

Karl Malakunas

Filmmaker and journalist who has been based in Asia —covering environmental issues, conflict, natural disasters and political upheavals— for two decades. He 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.