Toronto Star national security reporter Michelle Shephard has been nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award for her film about a Canadian’s 13-year ordeal in a Guantanamo jail from the age of 15.

Guantanamo’s Child was co-directed by Shephard and Patrick Reed, and produced by White Pine Pictures. Based on her book about Omar Khadr by the same name, the documentary was premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. They are nominated in a category recognizing outstanding long-form coverage of current affairs and news.

“This is a huge honour for everyone who worked hard to make this film. It wasn’t an easy one to make,” said Shephard, who is currently on leave for the yearlong Atkinson Fellowship, during which she’s exploring topics including youth radicalization.

“At a time when the world seems even more divided and we use hashtags to discuss terrorism and civil rights, we’re just thrilled such as documentary is being recognized.”

Toronto-born Khadr, now 29, was captured by American forces in Afghanistan in 2002 at age 15, and charged with war crimes for the murder of a U.S. soldier in a firefight. He has maintained he was a forced soldier while both American and Canadian officials painted him as a willing insurgent.

He was held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba for 13 years until his transfer to a Canadian facility last year. On May 7, 2015, he was freed on bail with strict conditions.

A veteran reporter, Shephard joined the Star in 1995 and became the paper’s national security reporter in 2001 after covering the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in New York.

“I was really lucky that the Star would not let this story go and allowed me to follow it for more than 12 years and then to be teamed up with a skilled filmmaker like Patrick,” said Shephard, who has been a previous winner of the Michener Award for public service journalism and has been awarded three National Newspaper Awards.

“In the end, I think people needed to see and hear from Omar Khadr and others involved in his case. He existed for so long as just a caricature, drawn and defined by others.”

The News and Documentary Emmys will be presented on Sept. 21 in New York.