WatchDoc, the Indonesian documentary filmmakers, are among one of the recipients for the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award. They won in the category of Emergent Leadership, an award often called the ‘Asian Nobel.’ The selection committee recognized WatchDoc for their “highly principled crusade for an independent media organization, energetic use of investigative journalism, documentary filmmaking, and digital technology in their effort to transform Indonesia’s media landscape, and their commitment to a vision of the people themselves as makers of the media and shapers of their own world” (RMAF board of trustees).
We at AIFIS would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the entire WatchDoc team as they continue their fantastic work of drawing wider public attention to social, environmental, human rights, and other underreported issues in Indonesia!
AIFIS has partnered with WatchDoc and the Luce Foundation in the production and distribution of films in the “Indonesian Pluralities” documentary film series (produced by Zainal Abidin Bagir and Bob Hefner).
See their award page here: https://www.rmaward.asia/awardee/watchdoc