The year that never was. Due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, 2020 did not happen in its normal guise.
Shortlisted
Reelin’ in the Years Productions
Synopsis
David Peck and his team at Reelin’ in the Years have spent the last 30 years finding, preserving and cataloging unique and historically significant archival footage. They’ve built a world-class footage company from the ground up, and proven that an independent archive can thrive in today’s hyper-competitive footage marketplace. And they've done it by focusing on the fundamentals: dedication to the archival craft; a keen nose for relevant, in-demand content; a deep knowledge of their collections; and stellar customer service.
From the beginning, their love of music and entertainment footage has been the cornerstone of their archival work, and their passion and focus have made them a go- to source for licensing footage of musical artists, entertainers and history makers.
They care deeply about the collections they take on, and are willing to invest both time and money in the preservation of these irreplaceable archives. They’re known throughout the production industry for their dedication to and deep knowledge of the collections they represent, and have shown up time and again as a true partner to their clients, offering deep subject matter expertise in addition to world- class footage.
Their work in all these areas reached new heights in 2019, and the Reelin in the Years Archive (RITY) now includes over 30,000 hours of music footage and 10,000 hours of in-depth interviews with the 20th century’s most recognizable personalities.
Over the last few years, RITY has added four new collections to their portfolio, all of which were either lost or scattered across many locations, including The David Frost Show; Brian Linehan’s City Lights; Countdown, Europe’s legendary music show; and the footage archive of the seminal rock band the Doors. Prior to RITY taking them on, all four collections were for all intents and purposes unmarketable, either because they were completely uncatalogued or held on outdated formats. All four are now fully cataloged, preserved and available for licensing.
Their work on the Doors archive, which they took on in 2019, is a case study in their commitment to the preservation and cataloging of historically significant footage archives. Because the original film reels were spooled in no particular order when the Doors archive was transferred to HD in 2008, all the pertinent location info was lost, and the archive required a massive effort in historical sleuthing to catalog and prepare for licensing -- a project that Peck and his team took to with zeal. In 2017, RITY began exclusively representing ITV’s vast musical holdings, which were formerly handled by ITN, adding many thousands ofperformances and interviews with the world’s most influential artists to their footage inventory. Over the last two years, RITY has worked closely with ITV and co-financed a project to transfer and catalogue their unique music footage holdings, which yielded many new discoveries this past year.
Throughout their existence, Reelin’ in the Years has also directed and produced over 70 historical music documentaries and programs focused primarily on the giants of jazz, blues and rock & roll. This past August they took their production work to the next level, entering a non-exclusive production partnership with Nigel Sinclair of White Horse Pictures, whose production credits include The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years (directed by Ron Howard); Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison: Living in the Material World; No Direction Home: Bob Dylan; Undefeated; and Foo Fighters: Back and Forth.
RITY’s passion for music and entertainment footage, as well as their depth of subject matter expertise, were a big draw for Sinclair, who approached Peck and his team at RITY this past summer about collaborating on original productions, a meeting which ultimately led to a deal between White Horse and Reelin’ in the Years to develop and produce documentary feature film and television projects, relying heavily on the unique material housed within the RITY archive. This deal, the first of its kind, pairs a major, award-winning production company with a leading footage library to develop archive-based event documentary projects.
Lastly, David and his team at Reelin’ in the Years have always been huge supporters of our industry, and they’ve made many contributions to its health and well-being over the years. It would be a great honor to have their tireless work and dedication recognized by this prestigious award.
Nominated By:
David Seevers
Archival highlights
President - Artist Legacy Management Company:
The Doors chose David Peck and Reelin’ in the Years to represent The Doors archive for two reasons. First, they have a stellar reputation in the footage licensing business, especially in the area of music and entertainment footage. Second, they seemed up to the challenge of sorting out our archival collection and getting it ready for market. They did not disappoint us in either area, somewhat miraculously, if the truth be told.
A big chunk of the footage in The Doors archive comes from a film called “Feast of Friends,” which was shot by friends of the band members in 1968. The film crew consisted of one cameraman filming in 16mm and one person with a Nagra reel to capture audio, and they followed The Doors around on tour in America from April to September 1968, capturing snippets of the band in concert, backstage, in the studio, on vacation and in airports. We had all of the existing raw footage transferred to Hi- Def in 2008, and in the process the lab spooled the shorter film reels containing the location information in no particular order, thus losing all the pertinent location info. Ergo, we essentially gave RITY 50 hours of footage and told them to “figure it out”. And, almost unbelievably, they did.
The first thing they did was find out all of the dates that The Doors played on that tour, and which shows were filmed. RITY then had to figure out the rest, using whatever visual clues were available in the footage itself, including, so I am told, street signs and local advertising to identify particular cities, and even the tiles on the floor and ceiling at LAX to decipher what airport they were in. Their dedication to historical accuracy was maybe a bit insane, but that kind of authenticity & accuracy is what we require. And the results so far have been extremely impressive. As a result of their tenacity, for the first time in 52 years our archive is cataloged and ready for use by producers. Clips from our archive will appear in the upcoming Laurel Canyon documentary, which will be released in 2020.
We are more convinced than ever that RITY is the right home for this irreplaceable collection, and I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Freelance Researcher:
Working on an almost completely archival film about Laurel Canyon (Jigsaw Productions) was quite the challenge, but David Peck and Reelin' in the Years Productions made this daunting task so much easier. Not only was their library teeming with amazing, music-related archival footage and photos, but David was always just a phone call away if and when any new themes were introduced into the film. Usually, I was the one picking up the phone to call archive houses, but David never hesitated to let me know about new and exciting material that he found. When he discovered never- before-seen home movie footage of Joni Mitchell painting from 1969, I was the first person he called and we fell in love with the material so much that we added the footage directly into the film (even though we essentially had locked the cut). I am excited to work with Reelin' again on my next project.
Principle, Production Company:
Of course, David runs this amazing library, but he also brings to the table the passion and commitment of a true archivist who cares deeply about the historical importance of footage and the need to preserve it. His invaluable advice to us on projects has gone way beyond just curating the footage he represents, and this new partnership is a chance for us to utilize his extraordinary knowledge to create some very high-level, archive-driven projects on subjects we all love. The main benefits are that David Peck’s skill, which is normally available to his customers through his ability to supply high quality material and advice is now actually harnessed with us to develop high quality archive-heavy projects. David not only knows his own enormous archive like the back of his hand but he also has a producer and a storyteller’s point of view on how to use archive. When you look at the way Reelin’ in the Years is organized, the scope of its library, and its sense that these are treasures, that vision is David’s.
LOLA Clips
Synopsis
LOLA Clips is an exciting footage agency based in London and LA, founded in 2015, by industry executives Sandra Coelho and Dominic Dare, LOLA offers a transcontinental clip agency, with a personal touch. With over 25 media partners choosing LOLA Clips to represent their collections and Sandra and Dominic having over 40 years experience in the industry it’s no wonder that their customer base and fantastic reputation is growing rapidly.
LOLA is passionate about connecting creative businesses with amazing videos from some of the best global contributors, and 2019 was no exception.
2019 saw LOLA driving forward unique and interesting ways for their clients to use footage. With amazing aerial drone footage, filmed by the team at LOLA, being featured in the feature film Godzilla: King of Monsters, a fantastic placing of content from one of LOLA’s clients, ITV, in the 2019 series of Orange is the New Black and news footage being seen in SAG nominated The Morning Show (featuring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston) showing that UK news content can travel across the pond, LOLA has pushed the boundaries on what a footage agency delivers. LOLA Clips is also co-founder of the amazing FootageFest, which launched in 2018, and brings together professional users and providers of third- party content together in Los Angeles to network, collaborate and break down any transatlantic barriers. 2019 was a bumper year for FootageFest, adding an additional day to the event, upping the number of participants and vendors and some amazing feedback from those who joined the event.
LOLA Clips is leading the way in making the entire process of buying and selling footage simple and fun and should be recognised for the significant role that they play in this industry.
Nominated By:
Kay Page, Co-Managing Director - Northbound TV
Archival highlights
Archive Research and Clearance Specialist:
I am delighted and honored to endorse the nomination for LOLA Clips to be considered for the FOCAL International Library of the Year Award. I have worked extensively with Dominic Dare and Sandra Coelho for many years as an archive researcher, and it’s been one of my greatest experiences. Dom and Sandra go the extra distance for their clients – their knowledge and connections with international archive resources is extraordinary, and they tirelessly work to connect us with those sources. In the last two years alone, for my projects, LOLA Clips have organized a drone shoot of Niagara Falls at dawn right before Christmas, worked out a package deal for several content heavy series for HBO and Apple TV, and tracked down elusive European and Middle East archive content. They provide unfailing support. The growth of the collections that LOLA Clips represent is quite impressive, and no small feat to secure.
LOLA Clips have also hosted as part of AMCUP the U.S. based FootageFest for the last two years – which involved an extraordinary amount of work, and resulted in two very successful, enjoyable and not-to-be-missed events attended by researchers and archives from several countries.
It would be a wonderful salute to this terrific, committed and hard-working team to award LOLA Clips the Footage Company of the Year.
Archive Producer:
LOLA Clips is an amazing international archive specializing in everything from the latest news footage to viral videos to breathtaking drone footage to historic stock footage. LOLA Clips is my go-to archive for news footage from the UK to Australia. And when I need footage from an area of the world where I have few or no contacts, I contact LOLA Clips’ Sandra Coelho and Dominic Dare to either broker footage or to provide me with an introduction to a new entity.
LOLA Clips is an ever-expanding archive. Sandra and Dominic have made me look good on multiple projects—from docuseries to TV specials to documentaries to clip shows. They both know how important each individual request is. If there’s a way to license/broker the footage, Sandra and Dominic will make things happen and they’ll do it quickly.
As a producer, the true value of an archive is its ability to add new material on a frequent basis. LOLA Clips features new gems each time I visit its website.
Furthermore, their database is easy to search. The results are always nicely targeted.
Another asset to using LOLA Clips is that they go the extra mile when it comes to licensing news footage—they make the effort to clear the talent. In other words, I can license news footage and know that I don’t need to clear the on-air talent on my own. This is a tremendous time saver for me. There are literally only a handful of archives I use on almost every project; LOLA Clips is one of them. Not only do I get the footage I need, but I also get the footage at reasonable prices and I get to work with two of the sharpest, most well-connected people in the footage archive business— Sandra Coelho and Dominic Dare.
Archive Producer:
It gives me great pleasure to endorse the nomination for LOLA Clips to be considered for FOCAL International’s Library of the Year. I have had the good fortune to work with both Dominic and Sandra over the many years I have been involved in the footage archive world. They both have a real in- depth grasp on our industry and handle themselves with the utmost professionalism. Understanding the needs and budgets of a range of productions, honouring deadlines and all the while doing so while being likeable, upbeat and extremely positive.
I have also been impressed by the massive number of hours that both Dominic and Sandra volunteered to run AMCUP’s Footage Fest for the past two years in September in Los Angeles. It was a first-rate industry event that I delighted in attending last year as part of the Visual Researchers’ of Canada delegation.
It would be a wonderful to be able to toast this hard-working team at this year’s FOCAL Awards....
Broadcaster:
We have been working together with Ms. Sandra Coelho and Mr. Dominic Dare at Lola Clips, since Lola Clips was established in 2015, and licensed a number of footage from them on behalf of a Japanese TV programme. Lola Clips offers various categories of footage which are provided by different partners from around the world, and we are very satisfied to have many selections in their large archive which can mostly cover our main interest categories (home video funny animal/kids footage, sports bloopers, CCTV, and dash cam footage).
Our sales contact, Sandra is always very helpful, a friendly, lovely person. I have been really enjoying working with her since we met first at MIPCOM several years before. Especially the production team in Japan appreciate her kind assistance, and always look forward to receiving her clip research results based on their research request. Added to this, she arranges all the necessary paper works and deliver the master materials promptly in a professional manner in order to meet our very tight delivery timeline.
We are truly delighted with their excellent and speedy service, and hope we would be also able to continue introducing their amazing footage to our Japanese viewers on upcoming future episode of our show.
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
Director:
Pamela B. Green
Footage Archive Researcher:
Pamela B. Green, Cosima Littlewood, Joan Simon, Daniela Roth and Christine Leteux A
Archival Sources:
Swedish Film Institute, Library of Congress, Lobster Films, EYE Film Institute, Gaumont-Pathé Archives P
Production Company:
Be Natural Productions
Country of Production:
United States, United Kingdom
Synopsis
When Alice Guy-Blaché completed her first film in 1896 Paris, she was not only the first female filmmaker, but one of the first directors ever to make a narrative film. Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché follows her rise from Gaumont secretary to her appointment as head of production in 1897, and her subsequent illustrious 20-year career in France and in the United States.
Archival highlights
A film that was instrumental in increasing the profile of its subject by contributing to the ongoing discoveries of her work by finding 15 films prior thought lost and incorporating them into the film itself.
Lyft – Two is Too Few
Director:
Tim Roan
Footage Archive Researcher:
Elizabeth Smithson, Rachel Saxby, Lauren Wackell, Craig Phillips, Jen Van Horn, Emily Brandenstein, Matt Gee, Drew McCoy, Brandi Self
A campaign honoring the spectrum of LGBTQ+ humanity, and how we shouldn’t have to be defined by checking one of two boxes. The spot celebrates the beauty in all gender expressions and acknowledges that all expressions should be recognized. In conjunction with the spot, Lyft introduced pronouns to its passenger app, as well as the option to not state or list.
Archival highlights
B&W performances, 1970s protest footage and 1990s home videos are combined in celebration of different gender identities and queer expression, made to appear in conjunction with Lyft introducing pronoun options to its application.
Los Olvidados
Director:
Luis Buñuel
Original Release:
1950
Involved Partners:
L’Immagine Ritrovata, World Cinema Project (The Film Foundation), The Material World Foundation, Fundacion Televisa, UNAM laboratory, Cineteca National de Mexico
Synopsis
A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, and the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others. Winner of 2 Cannes Film Festival awards, Los Olividados was the director’s first international box-office success.
Archival highlights
This 4K restoration of Luis Buñuel’s masterpiece was conducted after the film was given ‘World’s Memory’ classification by UNESCO. The original camera negatives were scanned at UNAM laboratory, and the sound digitised at Cinetica National de Mexico, before L’Immagine Ritrovata carried out extensive restoration work on the film’s thick scratches, gaps, spots and dirt. Gabriel Figueroa Flores, son of cinematographer Gabriel Figueros, supervised the color grading.
Hailed by filmmakers, artists and intellectuals as a stunning advance in modern art, Abel Gance’s La Roue is about an engineer who adopts a young infant girl. Both her adopted brother and father end up falling in love with her, and the story builds upon this triangulation.
Archival highlights
La Roue is a celebrated film, but the original version that premiered to audiences in 1923 hasn’t been seen since. This restoration drew from a wide variety of prints – approximately 50,000 metres of film – in order to reconstruct an earlier and more complete version of the film. The work was overseen by film historian François Ede, with screenplays, letters, early press and the musical score used to reconstruct the film. Different restoration elements were dated and extensively compared at L’Immagine Ritrovata, and The Radio Symphony Orchestra performed the score – the longest ever film score – with the film in Berlin.
Destry Rides Again
Director:
George Marshall
Original Release:
1939
Involved Partners:
Universal Pictures, The Film Foundation, NBCUniversal StudioPost
Synopsis
James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich set the standard for all Western comedies to come in this story about a mild-mannered deputy who is called to restore order to a corrupt frontier town.
Archival highlights
As part of Universal Pictures’ Centennial celebration in 2012, the studio announced an expanded effort to preserve and restore the Universal Film Library. Since then, the studio has restored over 100 feature films to help preserve the studio’s history. This 4K restoration was made in collaboration with The Film Foundation, using a 35mm nitrate composite print as the primary source. A safety print was used for reel 5 due to the original reel no longer existing. Special attention was paid to the film’s audio.
Apocalypse Now
Director:
Francis Ford Coppola
Original Release:
1979
Involved Partners:
American Zoetrope, Roundabout, L’Immagine Ritrovata, Meyer Sound, Dolby Laboratories
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Archival highlights
This new restoration and cut of Francis Ford Coppola’s revered film is the first to scan and restore the original camera negative. The Apocalypse Now Project was created to pay respects to every version of Apocalypse Now that Director Francis Ford Coppola has crafted over the past forty years. It was the team’s goal to make sure that each version—Apocalypse Now (1979), Apocalypse Now Redux (2001), and Apocalypse Now Final Cut (2019)—was restored, made available with the best picture and sound quality possible, and preserved for future generations. Picture restoration was done at American Zoetrope and took 11 months to complete, with 300,173 frames cleaned from 20 reels, taking 2,720 hours to complete.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Director:
Various
Original Release:
1969 – 1974
Involved Partners:
Network Distributing Ltd, BBC Archive, Silver Salt Restoration, R3store Studios
Continuing Network’s commitment to releasing fully restored High Definition versions of important television programmes, this landmark and highly influential series has been painstakingly restored and reassembled by Network’s in-house team. Going back to original film and video elements ensures that all series have been restored in high definition to a level previously unseen.
Archival highlights
This is the most extensive restoration of Monty Python’s Flying Circus to date, compiling never before seen film prints of a handful of episodes only prior locatable on tape, and upscaling standard definition content as well as reinserting previously censored segments. Released as a Blu-Ray boxset in line with previous Network Distributing efforts.
The Short Films of Jan Kříženecký
Director:
Jan Kříženecký
Original Release:
Various
Involved Partners:
Národní filmový archiv (Prague), Hungarian Filmlab, Magiclab (Prague), Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, National Library of Norway, CESNET
Synopsis
The series of short documentary films, updates and sketches by innovator of Czech film, Jan Kříženecký, are a window into the early beginnings of Czech cinematography between 1898 and 1908. The collection of “living images”, as they were called by advertisements of the time, includes all surviving productions of those years and chronicles not only novelties, attractions and important events but also the dawn of feature films.
Archival highlights
This project involved all original film materials preserved in Národní filmový archiv. Films dating from 1898 to 1908 are all on Lumière brothers’ material, with single round sprocket-holes often destroyed, making their digitisation a complex endeavor. Some prints were in pieces, scratched, dry, buckling or curling. The team did not interfere with the material by digital retouching in order to respect its historical ageing, and colour correction allows the appreciation of the amber shades in all their nuances.
Qualified
Director:
Jenna Ricker
Footage Archive Researcher:
Connie Honeycutt, Nina Krstic, Greg Stuhr
Archival Sources:
ABC Sports, IMS Museum, First Turn Productions, Rare Sports Footage – Doak Ewing, Janet Guthrie Personal Archives
In 1977, a 39-year-old aerospace engineer attempted to qualify for the world’s most famous race, the Indianapolis 500. In the face of scorn and skepticism, and saddled with subpar equipment, Janet Guthrie shocked the racing world. The reluctant feminist-turned-trailblazer became the first woman to earn a place on the starting grid at Indy, among 33 of the world’s greatest drivers. But just as her career should have rocketed forward, it suddenly, inexplicably stalled.
Archival highlights
Qualified delves into the career of an overlooked figure in the racing world, and this production sifted through hours of material searching for appearances of her that were prior unlabelled as such.
I Am Durán
Director:
Mat Hodgson
Footage Archive Researcher:
Daniel Glynn, Patrick Nathanson, James Hunt
Archival Sources:
Top Rank, Don King, AP, Getty, Boxing Hall of Fame
Roberto Durán is a boxing behemoth, a fighter ranked as one of the most entertaining, controversial and finest of all time. I Am Durán tells his story, inextricably interwoven with the story of the nation of Panama. Durán’s impact transcended his sport. Born a fighter, his success transformed him into an icon. But it was his flaws and failures that made him a man.
Archival highlights
Archival footage of the political developments in Panama City that form the backdrop to Durán’s stay there, and this film negotiated the use of footage overseen by controversial promoters Bob Arum and Don King.
Diego Maradona
Director:
Asif Kapadia
Footage Archive Researcher:
Lina Caicedo, Fiammetta Luino
Archival Sources:
Diego Maradona, Teche Rai, FIFA, Julie Italia S.R.L, Radio y Television Argentina S.E
On 5th July 1984, Diego Maradona arrived in Naples for a world-record fee. The world’s most celebrated football icon and the most passionate but dangerous city in Europe were a perfect match for each other. The third film from the multi-award winning team behind Senna and Amy, and producer Paul Martin, Diego Maradona is constructed from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage from Maradona’s own archive.
Archival highlights
Asif Kapadia’s third appearance in the FOCAL Awards after Amy and Senna sets its sights on Maradona in the familiar fashion, drawing from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage in search of unguarded moments.
The Tree (Derevo)
Director:
Oleg Chorny
Footage Archive Researcher:
Bohdan Shumylovych
Archival Sources:
Center for Urban History of East Central Europe, Village of Blagoveshchensk, City Media Archive, Victor Kyzyma, Oleh Yavorovych
Production Company:
City Media Archive, Center for Urban History of East Central Europe
Country of Production:
Ukraine
Synopsis
The film tells the story of a craftsman’s creativity and his connection to a tree that extracts an invisible form from a material substance. The act of creating by a human being is subject to the power of the substance that governs the carver independently determining the result. The subjectivity of nature is also manifested in the film through chemical damage – images and memory are absorbed and disappear behind the veil.
Archival highlights
Recently found in a decayed state, material from an unknown amateur filmmaker called Victor Kyzyma is used as a basis for exploring the relationship between nature and film decay.
Independent filmmakers and contributors, AV Geeks, Footage Farm, Global Image Works, Framepool
Production Company:
Iconoclast, Frieze
Country of Production:
United Kingdom, United States
Synopsis
Black To Techno delves into the origins of the genre in Detroit, drawing parallels between the machine-like production lines of the city’s manufacturing heritage and the roots of black music in drum patterns and percussive variation. It features contributions from pioneering spoken-word and hip-hop group The Last Poets and Detroit DJs Stacey Hotwaxx, DJ Minx and DJ Holographic.
Archival highlights
Public television broadcasts in Detroit appear alongside footage of the city’s automobile industry and the United State’s history of racism in this textured exploration of techno’s emergence and ongoing cultural impact.
Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men
Director:
Sacha Jenkins
Footage Archive Researcher:
Vanessa Maruskin, Amilca Palmer
Archival Sources:
Wu-Tang Clan Members, Associates, Family & Fans, Viacom, Michael Goldstein, Paramount, Gerald Barclay
This limited docuseries looks back on the Wu-Tang Clan’s career, combining intimate and reflective interviews from each of the 9 living members with unique and often personal archival footage and performances. Their ingenuity brought them together to overcome the poverty, violence and oppression of their New York neighbourhoods. But it was music and their shared lyrical genius that allowed them to form the most recognised musical acts in the world.
Archival highlights
This four-part docuseries produced for Showtime showcases early archival footage of the Wu-Tang Clan amongst other things, demonstrating the group’s entrepreneurial spirit and surroundings.
Sophisticated and gregarious, yet shy and insecure; Michael Hutchence, the lead singer and songwriter of INXS, was a mix of contradictions. An intimate portrait of the Rock God, featuring rare archival footage of Kylie Minogue and Paula Yates, as well as interviews with the band and the Hutchence family.
Archival highlights
INXS frontman Michael Hutchence is profiled with the aid of his own home movies, never-before-seen 35mm and 16mm footage, and rare archival footage of adjacent stars such as Kylie Minogue & Paula Yates in this intimate biopic.
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love
Director:
Nick Broomfield
Footage Archive Researcher:
Kyle Gibbon, Lisa Savage, Simon Orman
Archival Sources:
D.A. Pennebaker, Nick Broomfield, NRK Norway, National Film Board Canada, CBC Canada
The beautiful yet tragic love story between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. Their love began on the idyllic Greek island of Hydra in 1960 as part of a bohemian community of foreign artists, writers, and musicians. This film follows their relationship, from the early days on Hydra, a humble time of ‘free love’ and open marriage, to how their love evolved when Leonard became a successful musician.
Archival highlights
Nick Broomfield’s Marianne & Leonard incorporates photographs and footage from Leonard Cohen’s early concerts, unseen archive from Cohen’s close friends and acquaintances, and footage from legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, alongside sun-soaked footage of the island of Hydra.
Ten Chapters of the Northern Ireland Troubles
Archival Sources:
BBC Northern Ireland News, BBC News, RTÉ Archives, ITV Archive
Production Company:
BBC Rewind
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Synopsis
A series of online episodes that chart the political history of Northern Ireland from the 1950s to the end of the 1990s, produced by BBC Rewind and featuring videos and imagery from BBC News NI’s newly-digitised film archive, some of which had remained unseen for many decades. The series is designed to appeal to younger audiences, and gives context and understanding of the Troubles to a generation with no first-hand experience of it.
Archival highlights
A newly digitised archival collection is brought to life in this educational web-based experience using an interactive, scrolling narrative. A thoroughly researched experience with archival material at its core, marking the 50th anniversary of the events.
Our Maryhill
Director:
Rebecca McSheaffrey & Jodie Wilkinson
Footage Archive Researcher:
Shona Thomson
Archival Sources:
National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive, STV Footage Sales Archive
Production Company:
A Kind of Seeing, Glasgow Film
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Synopsis
A major three-month archive film and intergenerational project in the North Glasgow area of Maryhill inspiring school pupils and residents of local housing associations to reflect on and express what their shared community means to them through rare archive footage. The project involved screenings and archive film curation workshops with participants aged 11 to 81.
Archival highlights
By delivering multiple workshops and allowing ‘community curators’ to be central actors on the project, Our Maryhill demonstrates how audiovisual heritage can be an innovative source of cross-generational creativity, reflection and fun.
Four Nocturnes
Director:
John Akomfrah
Footage Archive Researcher:
Ashitey Akomfrah, David Lawson, Lina Gopaul, Chris Lovell (BBC), Mark Macey (BBC)
Archival Sources:
BBC, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Royal Belgian Cinematek, Kenya National Archives, Yale Divinity Library, Leipzig Mission, British Library, National Archives and Records, Namibian National Archive, British Film Institute, Footage Farm, Greenpeace
Production Company:
Smoking Dogs Films
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Synopsis
John Akomfrah’s three-screen video installation Four Nocturnes questions mortality, loss, fragmented identity, mythology, and memory through poetic visuals that survey the landscape of African cultural heritage. Audiences are met with a barrage of scenes depicting human encroachment on the natural world, with Images of destruction and the dismantling of ecological terrains.
Archival highlights
Blending diverse and sensitive footage depicting the richness and relevance of archival material alongside contemporary shot footage, John Akomfrah’s latest installation draws heavily from the breadth of the BBC’s Natural History archive.
Decolonizations
Director:
Karim Miské, Marc Ball
Footage Archive Researcher:
Marie-Hélène Barbéris, Maris Corberand, Eve Feuilloy
Archival Sources:
British Pathé, AP, Getty, Cinematek of Belgium, Gaumont Pathé
Production Company:
Program33
Country of Production:
France, Belgium, Senegal
Synopsis
A story of how the fall of European empires after the Berlin Conference in 1885 would give birth to a new world: ours. In India, in South-East Asia, in both North and Sub-Saharan Africa, in the Middle East and even in Europe itself, it was becoming clear just what colonialism involved, and many people – including servicemen, diplomats, artists and writers – started working to overthrow its domination. In three episodes, the Decolonisation series traces its story through the many faces of the great global shift that has shaped our contemporary world.
Archival highlights
This 3 part program draws material from 49 archival films and 13 fiction films, with footage from archives in Vietnam, India, Kenya, Senegal & more. It also features rare footage of Frantz Fanon at the hospital in Blida.
Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany
Director:
Nick Watts, Martin Davidson
Footage Archive Researcher:
Dorothee Schneider
Archival Sources:
AKH Agent Karl Hoefkes, Castan Fotokontor, US Holocaust Museum, Helmut Machemer Collection, Footage Farm
Production Company:
Bright Button Productions Ltd
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Synopsis
Thousands of German attics have become dumping grounds for countless hours of private home movies, left gathering dust for decades. Hidden on these rolls of film is a different story of Hitler’s Third Reich; a private window into the inner most recesses of life in the Nazi Germany. What emerges is a candid look at what life was really like for those living in, and under Hitler’s rule.
Archival highlights
Another home movie centred film in this year’s competition, this production provides historical and personal reflection on the war period in Germany. The wide adoption of home movie cameras in Germany provides a wide variety of available footage of life there during wartime.
A British Guide to the End of the World
Director:
Daniel Vernon
Footage Archive Researcher:
Matthew Sanger
Archival Sources:
Imperial War Museums, Personal home movies from contributors, BBC, MACE (Media Archive for Central England)
Production Company:
Erica Starling Productions
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Synopsis
A British Guide to the End of the World uses extraordinary unseen archive and exclusive testimonies from people directly involved in Great Britain’s nuclear story. Accompanied by an atmospheric score, the film features classified footage, hidden for decades, as well as television reports and government information videos that retain the spirit of Cold War paranoia.
Archival highlights
Formerly classified films from the Ministry of Defense, uncatalogued material from defunct regional TV stations and films tracked down to people’s lofts are weaved together for this examination of Britain’s nuclear story.
For over half a century, “60 Minutes” fearsome newsman Mike Wallace went head-to-head with the world’s most influential figures. Relying exclusively on archival footage, the film interrogates the interrogator, tracking Mike’s storied career and troubled personal life while unpacking how broadcast journalism evolved to today’s precarious tipping point.
Archival highlights
Access to never-before-seen raw materials and outtakes from the CBS News archive were amongst the 698 hours of footage used to build this film entirely from archival material.
A behind-the-scenes look at charismatic ocean-explorer and filmmaker Mike deGruy, a man who spent his life pushing the boundaries of ocean exploration and shared his profound understanding with a worldwide audience. After his death in 2012, his wife and filmmaking partner Mimi deGruy to complete the most important film of their life; a spectacular call to action on behalf of the world’s oceans, compiling never-before-seen footage and interviews with collaborators.
Archival highlights
This biopic largely draws from material shot by the man himself – whilst also dipping into the BBC and National Geographic archives – and creates a testament to a world that may not survive its environmental challenges.
Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies
Director:
Larry Weinstein
Footage Archive Researcher:
Céline Deligny
Archival Sources:
Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Mosfilm, AP Archive, Getty Images
Production Company:
taglicht media Film- und Fernsehproduktion (ZDF/arte Germany) & Haweye Pictures (TVO Canada)
From ancient cave drawings to the unbridled stabs of Twitter, every form of media has been exploited in order to sway, awe and intimidate. In a world where access to media is unprecedented, the global conversation around the propagation of information, “alternative facts” and “fake news” has never been more heated. Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies demystifies the means and methods of propagandist persuasion that have been employed by those seeking power throughout history.
Archival highlights
A combination of footage from nearly 40 different global archives helps to demonstrate how propagandist media has dispensed – often false – information, also incorporating films like Triumph of the Will and Battleship Potemkin.
This short factual film recounts the June 4, 1989 assault by the People’s Liberation Army on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Featured in Black Night In June are the voices and words of the students, and the chilling megaphone decrees of the Communist Party’s martial law authority, advising everyone to leave the square immediately or suffer the consequences.
Archival highlights
This short film presents restored footage from the momentous June 4th 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square, China and gained viral traction on the 30th anniversary of the events.
France 1939: One Last Summer
Director:
Ruth Zylberman
Footage Archive Researcher:
Marie Hélène Barberis
Archival Sources:
Archipop, Atelier des Archives, Cinémathèque de Bretagne, Lobster, Pathé
Production Company:
Zadig Productions
Country of Production:
France
Synopsis
Summer 1939 was a threshold where the feeling of being threatened was competing with a will to live. Like every year, amateurs recorded glimpses of happiness on their 8mm or 16mm cameras. How were these last weeks perceived and lived in by families across France? These extraordinary images bring the past back with all the strength of those sensations that were once the present.
Archival highlights
Sourced from multiple French cinemathèques, this production provides a different vantage point on the approach of World War II by drawing from French home movies shot during the summer of 1939
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Director:
Midge Costin
Footage Archive Researcher:
Samantha Casey, Susan Ricketts
Archival Sources:
American Zoetrope, Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox, Ben Burtt, Amblin Entertainment
Production Company:
Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet Corp, GoodMovies Entertainment
Through film clips, interviews and verité footage, Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound captures the history, impact and creative process of sound in cinema through the insights and stories of legendary directors such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Barbra Streisand, Ang Lee, Christopher Nolan, Sofia Coppola and Ryan Coogler, and the sound men and women with whom they collaborate.
Archival highlights
Weaving together film clips and behind-the-scenes footage and material, this documentary contextualises the technological changes in cinematic sound since its emergence.
They Call me Babu is a film about native Indonesian girls working as nannies (pembantu) for the colonial Dutch. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War and the struggles for independence in Indonesia, the film is told from the perspective of Alima, beginning with her decision to flee from an arranged marriage to work as a pembantu. Alima tells her story over unique footage from various archives.
Archival highlights
Drawing from over 500 sources, They Call me Babu weaves home movies filmed in the Dutch colonies into a memorable and personable commentary on colonialism and Indonesia’s struggle for independence.
The Race Races On
Director:
n/a
Footage Archive Researcher:
Jody Winterbottom
Archival Sources:
Formula 1, Ford/National Motor Museum, Gaumont Pathé, British Pathé, AP Archive
Production Company:
The Director Studio, Time Based Arts
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Synopsis
The Race Races On is a dynamic flash back to the thrills of Formula 1 history and how this has shaped the excitement and drama of modern F1. Archival film and contemporary visual effects are combined into a pulsating and kaleidoscopic combination of the past and the present.
Archival highlights
A contemporary combination of archive and visual effects, this archival overview of the changes in Formula 1 technologies combines history and visual flourish in a fast-paced but well-managed narrative.
Lyft – Two is Too Few
Director:
Tim Roan
Footage Archive Researcher:
Elizabeth Smithson, Rachel Saxby, Lauren Wackell, Craig Phillips, Jen Van Horn, Emily Brandenstein, Matt Gee, Drew McCoy, Brandi Self
A campaign honoring the spectrum of LGBTQ+ humanity, and how we shouldn’t have to be defined by checking one of two boxes. The spot celebrates the beauty in all gender expressions and acknowledges that all expressions should be recognized. In conjunction with the spot, Lyft introduced pronouns to its passenger app, as well as the option to not state or list.
Archival highlights
B&W performances, 1970s protest footage and 1990s home videos are combined in celebration of different gender identities and queer expression, made to appear in conjunction with Lyft introducing pronoun options to its application.
VW – Moon Landing Anniversary
Director:
Leo Premutico
Footage Archive Researcher:
Elizabeth Smithson, Spring McCoy, Lauren Wackell, Jen Van Horn, Brandi Self, Cole Hooper, Rachel Saxby, Craig Phillips
Archival Sources:
Alamy, Film Supply, Getty, Veritone, Stocksy
Production Company:
STALKR
Country of Production:
United States
Synopsis
Set to one of David Bowe’s earliest recorded versions of “Space Oddity” this spot looks back at the 1969 moon landing that was celebrated and chronicled worldwide. Highlighting VW’s connection to the moon landing, the spot then looks forward to VW’s vision for the future and its focus on electric vehicles and going carbon neutral.
Archival highlights
Not just a time capsule of the Apollo 11 mission, but an archive-driven emphasis on both VW’s connection to the moon landing. Imagery of people united in awe at a shared experience.
Wimbledon’s 2019 advertisement links a selection of landmark headlines from the tournament to a global news archive, such as Billie Jean King’s role in leading the fight for equality in tennis. The campaign aims to build further global engagement and cultural relevance for the 142-year-old event. The advert contextualises iconic Wimbledon winners from each decade with the news stories from the era.
Archival highlights
This advert combined archival footage from Wimbledon’s history with news stories of the time through CGI. It also provides a snapshot of how tennis has been filmed throughout the years – marking the first colour broadcast and more.
Halston
Director:
Frédéric Tcheng
Footage Archive Researcher:
Paul Dallas
Archival Sources:
NBC, Halston Real LLC, Lesley Frowick, Videofashion, Anton Perich
From Iowa to Studio 54 to Wall Street, Halston lived an American dream. Prodigiously talented, he reigned over fashion in the 1970s, becoming a household name. But everything changed in the Wall Street era. With his empire under threat, Halston takes the biggest gamble of his life.
Archival highlights
Amongst a treasure trove of material from the Halston company archives, this biopic concerning the fashion icon also utilises the raw tapes from a never-aired NBC documentary about Halston’s business in China.
Sid & Judy
Director:
Stephen Kijak
Footage Archive Researcher:
Adele Sparks
Archival Sources:
The Sid Luft Trust (managed by Pacific Title Archives), The Private Collection of Michael Siewert, MPTV Images, The Richard Avedon Estate, Reelin’ in the Years P
Sid & Judy tells the story of the greatest second-chapter in American history: Judy Garland’s phoenix-like rise from the ashes to the absolute heights of fame, driven by her great and turbulent love affair with Sid Luft, her third husband, who managed her through triumphant highs and crushing lows, during the course of their 13-year marriage and beyond. It is the story of how The Star became The Legend.
Archival highlights
The production team unearthed a range of unpublished materials concerning Judy Garland, including production stills from A Star is Born and had access to thousands of items in the Sid Luft Trust archive.
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
Director:
Pamela B. Green
Footage Archive Researcher:
Pamela B. Green, Cosima Littlewood, Joan Simon, Daniela Roth and Christine Leteux A
Archival Sources:
Swedish Film Institute, Library of Congress, Lobster Films, EYE Film Institute, Gaumont-Pathé Archives P
When Alice Guy-Blaché completed her first film in 1896 Paris, she was not only the first female filmmaker, but one of the first directors ever to make a narrative film. Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché follows her rise from Gaumont secretary to her appointment as head of production in 1897, and her subsequent illustrious 20-year career in France and in the United States.
Archival highlights
A film that was instrumental in increasing the profile of its subject by contributing to the ongoing discoveries of her work by finding 15 films prior thought lost and incorporating them into the film itself.
