Ramona Diaz’s ‘A Thousand Cuts’ spotlighting Maria Ressa wins RFK Journalism Award

The documentary digs into President Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks on news media through the story of one of his prime targets: renowned journalist Maria Ressa. PBS

Filmmaker Ramona Diaz’s A Thousand Cuts, the 2021 FRONTLINE documentary probing the war between the government and the press in the Philippines, won a  2022 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in the International TV category.

The documentary digs into President Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks on news media through the story of one of his prime targets: renowned journalist Maria Ressa. Last year, Ressa was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.

Ressa, CEO and co-founder of the independent news site Rappler, and her colleagues have been at the forefront of covering Duterte’s brutal war on drugs, and she has endured harassment, arrests and faces potential prison time for what press advocates have called politically motivated charges.

The RFK judges called A Thousand Cuts an “excellent documentary film both journalistically and in terms of its realization,” adding that the film “raises awareness of the political and societal problems in the Philippines, and how social media is used [to spread] lies of authoritarianism.”

Directed, produced and written by Ramona S. Diaz, A Thousand Cuts premiered on PBS in January 2021, following a decorated theatrical release in the summer of 2020 by PBS Distribution. FRONTLINE also acquired full-streaming rights for the film in the Philippines so audiences could watch it on YouTube and pbs.org/frontline.

“I received news that A Thousand Cuts received an RFK award when I was personally questioning the value of storytelling at a time of massive disinformation. It felt like I was just screaming at the wind,” said Diaz. “This award gives me much-needed hope that we are still being heard amidst the cacophony. Thank you so very much, I am deeply humbled.”

“We are thrilled to see Ramona’s filmmaking — and Maria Ressa’s ongoing fight for press freedom in the Philippines — be recognized by the RFKs,” said FRONTLINE Executive Producer Raney Aronson-Rath. “A Thousand Cuts embodies the mission of all journalists to hold people in power to account and illustrates the fragility of democracy when journalism isn’t embraced. We’re so proud to have been able to share Maria’s profound story with our PBS audiences and to continue to champion her fight for press freedom with our digital audiences around the world.”

The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, given annually by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, recognize outstanding reporting on human rights and social justice issues.

Earlier this year, A Thousand Cuts was nominated for a George Foster Peabody Award in the documentary category. Including this year’s win, FRONTLINE has earned 20 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards to date.