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 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 vs Goliath-style struggles to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier.”
Karl is an Australian journalist and filmmaker who has reported on conflicts, natural disasters and political upheavals around the world for two decades. He is currently based in Hong Kong, as the Asia-Pacific Deputy Editor-In-Chief for the international news agency Agence France-Presse. Karl began making DELIKADO, his first feature film, while based in the Philippines as Manila Bureau Chief for AFP. An initial short film and essay on Palawan’s land defenders by Karl won a special merit at the 2018 Amnesty International Asia-Pacific Human Rights Awards. Karl is a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Fellow, and a SFFILM-Vulcan Productions Environmental Film Fellow.