‘Nightcrawlers’ in Oscar not bothersome–Palace

Panelo said the government’s own docu on the campaign against illegal drugs shows a balanced picture. #thenightcrawlers

Malacañang on Thursday shrugged off the entry to the Oscars of a documentary film from National Geographic which tackles the war on illegal drugs by the Duterte administration.

Titled “The Nightcrawlers”, the docu-film has been shortlisted among 10 films in the “Documentary Short Subject” category at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020.

National Geographic describes the documentary short as an “unflinching exposé” of the Philippine government’s war on drugs. It features a number of photojournalists reportedly on a mission to expose or reveal the true cost of the violent and bloody anti-illegal drugs campaign.

“Well, it’s an independent body of international experts on cinematic film. So, we’d rather not—it’s not our turf then let them judge on the basis of whatever standards or guidelines they have imposed on them,” Panelo said.

The Palace official said he doesn’t believe that is has any relevance in particular to the government’s campaign on illegal drugs which started when President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 1 July 2016.

“I think the judgment on a particular movie or film is based on certain criteria, not necessarily the truth,” Panelo said.

“It’s how you depict how the producers do their films. Iba naman ang—hindi ba pareho rin niyan gaya ng mga fiction, may nananalo hindi naman totoo. So I don’t think it has something… it has any relevance,” he added.

When asked if the Palace is bothered by the documentary, Panelo said they, too, has a docu-film, referring to “Gramo” which the government said showcases a balanced picture of the administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign through the 50-minute documentary.

“Eh, Oscar is movie ‘yun eh! Mayroon din tayong docu, ‘di ba? We have our own docu. For all we know baka makapasok din ‘yun ‘pag ‘yun inilabas.