Franklin Dow wins an Emmy for Virunga

Up-and-coming British cinematographer Franklin Dow recently won a Primetime Emmy for his outstanding work on Virunga, the 2014 British documentary film directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. The production focuses on the conservation work of rangers within Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – home to the world’s last mountain gorillas ­­– as well as the complex political and economic issues surrounding oil exploration and armed conflict in the region.

The film initially screened at film festivals around the world and received universal acclaim by critics. In July 2014 it was announced that Netflix had picked up exclusive rights. Virunga was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Academy Awards, and Dow collected his 2015 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography in Nonfiction Programming.