2025 Best Use of Footage in an Arts & Cultural Production
Productions that encompass documentaries, docudramas or fiction that feature arts and cultural subjects. For example, productions might focus on literature, visual arts, the history of film and television or biographies of artists, writers and entertainers.
Shortlisted
Documerica, auto-portrait d'une nation au bord de l'abime (Documerica, Self-Portrait of a Nation on the Brink)
Director:
Pierre-Francois Didek
Producer(s):
Benoit Tschieret / Guillaume Vincent / Thierry Commissionat
Footage Archive Producer:
Charlotte de Luppe
Archival Sources:
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA / KINOLIBRARY / PRELINGER ARCHIVES / CBS VERITONE / The Associated Press / NARA - US National archives
Production Company:
LES FILMS EN VRAC / KARAMOJA PRODUCTIONS / RING PROD
Country of Production:
France / Belgium
Original Release:
2024
Synopsis
A handful of photographers look back on the Documerica Project, a long-forgotten epic photo survey of the American environment launched in the early 1970s at the height of environmental awareness. Embodying a moment of truth in a country that had reached the limits of its American Dream, the images of Documerica bear witness to a missed meeting with History. And beyond that, they announce the world in which we live today.
So Surreal: Behind the Masks
Director:
Neil Diamond / Joanne Robertson
Producer(s):
Daniel Morin
Footage Archive Researcher:
Ana Paula Castillo Méndez / G̱wa̱nti'lakw Hunt Cranmer / Joanne Robertson
Footage Archive Producer:
Rebecca Lessard
Archival Sources:
Royal BC Museum / National Museum of the American Indian / Art Resource / Umista Cultural Center / Association Atelier André Breton
Production Company:
Rezolution Pictures
Country of Production:
Canada
Original Release:
2024
Synopsis
So Surreal: Behind the Masks is a feature documentary that traces the storied journey of Indigenous masks from the far reaches of Turtle Island (North America) into the hands of European Surrealists, influencing the work and worldview of some of the most well-known modern artists and writers of all time including Max Ernst, André Breton, Roberto Matta and Joan Miró – all while following the dramatic quest to return a mask that was brutally stolen from the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw people on Canada’s northwest coast over a century ago.
Part caper, part road trip, part spiritual journey, So Surreal: Behind the Masks follows Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond (Reel Injun, Red Fever) as he travels coast-to-coast and across the Atlantic and back, gradually piecing together this groundbreaking global story of influence, reconnection and restitution.
Shot in Surrealist style featuring interviews with renowned contemporary Indigenous artists along with eccentric art dealers and Surrealist scholars, So Surreal: Behind the Masks is a compelling detective story that brings audiences into the complex world of repatriation, while revealing the original meanings and importance of these ceremonial masks and how they came to influence one of the most iconic art movements of our time.
Jim Henson: Idea Man
Director:
Ron Howard
Producer(s):
Brian Grazer / Ron Howard / Sara Bernstein / Margaret Bodde / Justin Wilke / Mark Monroe / Christopher St. John
“Jim Henson Idea Man” takes us into the mind of this singular creative visionary, from his early years puppeteering on local television to the worldwide success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and beyond. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard captures Henson's restless creativity, ambition, and artistic evolution in the style and spirit of his complex subject, an artist who revolutionized television, inspired generations, and created some of the world’s most beloved characters. Featuring new interviews with Henson's closest collaborators and children, as well as never-before-seen materials from his personal archives—including home movies, photographs, sketches, and diaries— Howard brings us an entertaining and insightful look at a man whose boundless imagination changed the world.
In My Own Words: Billy Connolly
Director:
Mike Reilly
Producer(s):
Michelle Crowther
Footage Archive Producer:
James RM Hunt
Archival Sources:
SIR BILLY CONNOLLY / BBC / ITV CLIP SALES / FREMANTLE MEDIA ARCHIVE / BFI ARCHIVE SALES
Production Company:
Whisper Films
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Original Release:
2024
Synopsis
Neither Parkinson's disease or age have diminished Billy Connolly's wit or wisdom in this astonishingly intimate self portrait of the stand-up pioneer turned cultural icon.
Told in his own words, with unflinching honesty and access to superlative archive, this is not the well trod story of his celebrated career in stand-up, but rather a surprising and delightful meditation on the joys of growing older and wiser, as he looks back on his triumphs and shortcomings as an entertainer, husband and father.
He talks about the failing of his first marriage, his profound kinship with Robin Williams, the pressure he put on himself to rise to the challenge of working alongside Dame Judi Dench and his abiding love of Pamela Stephenson, his wife of 35 years.
The confusion and loneliness he felt as a child trapped in a violent home is palpable, likewise is his joy in finding a place where he belonged in the Clyde shipyards. It's revelatory watching the discomfort he feels viewing his early work in the 1970s grow to something approaching pride in his later stand up. But it's his observations on love and stoicism in his relationships that linger long after the credits roll.
In My Own Words: Alison Lapper
Director:
Poppy Goodheart
Producer(s):
Victoria Holden / Kira Philips
Footage Archive Producer:
Emma Haw
Archival Sources:
Alison Lapper private Collection / Chailey heritage / BBC Child of our time and other / Danish Documentary maker
Production Company:
Chalk Productions
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Original Release:
2024
Synopsis
Alison Lapper - artist, muse and mother - explores her life through art and archive in this visually rich and powerfully intimate film. Born with no arms and short legs, she is a formidable character, who defies preconceptions and breaks down barriers.
As she works towards a new exhibition of her work, Alison also confronts the most difficult aspects of her life; the loss of her son Parys, her disability and the challenging relationship with her own Mother.
Alison Lapper: In my Own Words is a profile documentary rooted in archive. A BBC commission, the team dived into the footage library and drew upon unique and remarkable archive, showcasing science, cultural and disability programming from the past 50 years.
In this film, Alison gives a moving yet frank account of what life has been like for her. She tackles issues head on; from growing up in care to the scrutiny she received as a disabled woman and parent. But at the heart of this film, is a poignant story about a Mother and the love for her son.
