Since 2004 FOCAL International Awards competition is dedicated to the promotion and celebration of archival footage and its contribution to the creative and cultural industries. We congratulate all the past winners.
Shortlisted
Kyle Gibbon for The Stones and Brian Jones
Production Company:
Lafayette Film
Synopsis
THE STONES & BRIAN JONES looks at the relationships and rivalries within The Rolling Stones in those formative years. It explores the iconoclastic freedom and exuberance of the 60s, a time of intergenerational conflict and sexual turmoil which reflects on where we are today.
Featuring revealing interviews with all the main players and unseen archive released for the first time, THE STONES & BRIAN JONES explores the creative musical genius of Jones, key to the success of the band, and uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock & roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history.
Archival highlights
Kyle not only Produced this film but also undertook all of the archive research and clearance. Kyle has always had a natural talent for archive and in the ten or so years we have worked together we have made several archive feature films including Whitney: Can I Be Me, Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (Focal winner), My Father and Me, and this latest film The Stones and Brian Jones.
Kyle's ability to find rare and interesting archive is unlike anyone I have ever worked with. On subjects that have been so well documented over decades he can still deliver unseen archive, as he did with The Stones and Brian Jones, which to me is remarkable - I can always rely on Kyle to deliver.
Jackie Clary for Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Production Company:
Apple Original Films / Concordia Studio
Synopsis
Told in his own words with a mix of archival and scripted elements, STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE recounts Fox’s rise to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The look at his public life unspools alongside his private journey including the years following his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease.
Archival highlights
Long story short: Jackie was the engine behind Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. It’s a film that is predominantly made of archival footage. Jackie is a rare treasure and a treat. She works like crazy to get what is requested and thinks gigantically out-of-the-box to get the best possible plus options. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie would not be the beloved and award-winning film that it is today without Jackie Clary.
I joined the production of what turned out to be Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie in April 2021 as the main producer. Jackie was a recommendation from a friend of our editor Michael Harte, and I’ll be forever grateful for that recommendation.
Not only did Jackie present the experience and tenacity we were looking for, she also seemed like a lovely person AND was a long-time Michael J. Fox fan. Everything seemed perfect with this key hire.
Well. Not only did Jackie incredibly excel at this particular job, she did it under pressure. And she did it with the best attitude ever.
Jackie sourced not only all the usual suspects (and with Michael J. Fox, there are a lot of usual suspects) but she also tracked down incredibly rare and never-seen work that took a lot of time and persistence to find.
Not only am I thrilled that I met and hired Jackie, I will be forever grateful that she powered through it all with me every single day. And now Jackie is not only an incredible colleague and collaborator, but also a treasured friend.
Molly Rokosz for The Pigeon Tunnel
Production Company:
Apple Original Films / Ink Factory
Synopsis
A look at the life and career of former British spy David Cornwell – better known as author John le Carré. The film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final interview and features archival footage and dramatized vignettes
Archival highlights
My goal in making The Pigeon Tunnel with John le Carré was to get inside the mind of one of the greatest authors of the 20th century and figure out how it worked. I wanted to discover the people and events that shaped him, and which were in turn reshaped by him in the course of his long literary career. His father, the arch-conman and libertine; his time nestled in the bosom of the British establishment, from boarding schools to MI5; his time on the front lines of the Cold War with MI6. To bring these moments to life and create a concoction for the audience like the one in John le Carré’s brain, I turned to archival producer Molly Rokosz for help.
Molly unearthed television programs featuring le Carré during his rise to fame, allowing the audience to experience what he was like as a young man. One show that provided a vast amount of material was an episode of London Weekend Television. It showed le Carré walking around Paris and West Berlin, sharing stories about his life and what it means to be an artist.
Just as important to my film as these glimpses of le Carré over the years was the footage Molly curated to establish the places and historical events that shaped him. The shots around Berlin from the time the Berlin Wall certainly come to mind. But so too do the grainy, black and white views of pigeons at Eton. And the rictus of an elderly Kim Philby on a picnic in Russia.
The archival footage for The Pigeon Tunnel is essential to helping the audience look into the past and understand where artistic inspiration is born. The fruits of Molly Rokosz’s archival research on this project enabled me to recreate a version of John le Carré’s mind’s eye and to illustrate his creative process, giving viewers unique insight into the workings of a literary wonder: a man whose output changed the way we view the history of the twentieth century.
Helen R. Russell for Bill Russell: Legend
Production Company:
High Five Productions, LLC
Synopsis
Bill Russell: Legend captures the remarkable life and legacy of an NBA superstar and civil rights icon. This two-part film from director Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI) features the last interview with Russell prior to his passing in 2022. Russell’s story is told in his own voice through original and archival interviews as well as excerpts from Russell’s memoirs read by actor Jeffrey Wright. WIth archival footage as the film’s backbone, Russell’s story spans history from the 1930s - 2020s. On the court, Russell led every team he played on to championships -- two NCAA titles, a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and eleven NBA Championships in thirteen years as a Boston Celtic, his last two as the first Black head coach in NBA history. Off the court, Russell was a force in the fight for human rights - marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and leading boycotts in the NBA and local communities over racist practices and segregation — efforts which earned him the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom. From his humble beginnings in Louisiana to the top of the sports world, Bill Russell: Legend illuminates how Russell stood tall in every sense of the word.
Archival highlights
Helen tirelessly uncovered footage from his college years at the University of San Francisco through his tenure as a Boston Celtic and beyond as a coach, commentator, and television personality. She found never before seen home movies of the Celtics off the court at one of the player’s homes that said a lot about the team’s camaraderie and Bill’s close relationship with his teammates, and poignant audio from a town dinner to honor the Russell family that happened a short time before his home would be ransacked in that same neighborhood.
What set this documentary apart was finding visuals depicting Russell’s participation in the civil rights movement. Helen and the team uncovered footage that depicted Bill’s activism in the racially charged Boston of the 1960s and beyond; and footage of his travels to Mississippi after the death of civil rights activist Medgar Evers.
What her search uncovered was a man who was more than a basketball star. He was a human being whose measure went beyond the sport of basketball. Helen’s contribution was phenomenal and for my money ranks Helen as one of the best archivists I have ever had the opportunity to work with.
Prasad
Archival highlights
We are motivated by the tremendous strides our team has taken in establishing 8K as a cutting-edge service offering in the Indian market. Worldwide, 8K has not become mainstream yet. But in India, we strongly believed that we could crack this puzzle. It was just not about taking this service to market but a major operation struggle to scan at 8K. We faced technical issues, issues, challenges relating to scanning, film compatibility, and data storage. The Prasad team had to constantly innovate and bring in several improvements to the hardware and software to optimize performance.
Prasad physically restore and prepare deteriorating cultural and historical treasures to be ‘preserved4posterity™’. This is probably one of the largest Analog Film Restoration and Preventive Conservation project executed in the world. The ambitious project involved restoring approximately 60,000 reels, which accounted for about one-third of the archive's inventory. To achieve this, a combination of technologies, processes, and innovative thinking was employed on a large scale.
In addition, they launched two new services in 2023: Film Colorization Services:Bringing in expertise in film preservation, they launched black-and-white film colorization services.
SDR to HDR conversion services:The consumer demand for high-quality video entertainment had surged in recent times. HDR is gradually becoming ubiquitous in the general streaming space.
Kinolibrary
Archival highlights
Kinolibrary is the perfect combination of the key facets exhibited by the best archive companies. Crucially, they have excellent material that is unique, high quality and easily accessible but they are also a lovely group of people offering excellent boutique service in their research, sales and in representing film-makers and licensors. They have also brought new talent into the industry who have since gone on to successful careers in production. I can’t think of another company that compares in such an all-round contribution to our sector.
In 2023, Kinolibrary released a new website providing users with more visibility on the collections that Kinolibrary hold. The site was built and designed with direct input from archive researchers and producers and provides a searchable database of curated clips from across the Kinolibrary collections.
In addition, Kinolibrary has continued to add high quality and exclusive content to their evolving archive, much of which has been made commercially available for the first time. These recent collections include underground LBGTQ nightlife in the 1990s, the Miner's strikes of the 1980s, the Irish Troubles from the 1970s and the UK 1960s art scene. They also completed scanning the Oscar-winning Hilary Harris' 35mm reel collection featuring beautiful scenes and communities from New York in the 1960s and 1970s
Yannis Dubois
Job Titles:
Archive Producer and Teacher
Company:
Le Chaînon Manquant
Archival highlights
LE CHAINON MANQUANT is a French company founded in 1992, dedicated to the research and clearance of additional content, whether for documentaries, fiction, advertising, exhibitions, etc.
I know that doing this job within a company rather than on a freelance basis is rather strange, but it has enabled me to work on some particularly numerous and challenging projects: documentary series for platforms, dramas awarded at the Cannes Film Festival or the César Awards, commercials for international brands, and so on. It was a rich learning experience!
That's why several training organizations, including INA (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel), entrust me with a large number of assignments every year, not only for their students but also for archive professionals. I also train interns and other new members of the Chaînon Manquant team.
I'm also a film director, notably for exhibition films and 100% archive corporate films, with a prize for best director at the Trophées de la Communication in 2020 for an SNCF (national train company) film.
Brian Sargent
Job Title:
Managing Director
Company:
Fox Archive
Archival highlights
Brian and his team are extremely responsive and so fun to work with. They always have the most unique material, and Brian knows the collection extremely well. Even more, if he doesn’t have something I’m looking for, he will prioritize digitization of what I need. It’s so helpful, and it leads to unique and interesting footage. Brian also will work with projects, understanding our limitations while also showing extreme reverence for his vast archive and the enormous work they are doing. He understands the value of what they are doing for our community, but they also have reverence for the projects they help.
Brian shares the credit for his successes with his whole team, and that shows. And perhaps most importantly for this nomination, Brian (and his colleague Ben Ramos) build us up as a community, bringing us together for events and conversations. His enormous digitization project is his pride and joy, and we are so very lucky to have him. Not only is he exceptional at his job, but Brian is personable and very funny. He’s a joy to work with.
Stephanie Molloy
Job Title:
Strategic, Product Specialist
Company:
Getty Images
Archival highlights
Stephanie is in a league of her own when it comes to delivering and licensing archive footage. Stephanie has been an integral part in project managing over 50 of the largest archive projects at Getty Images in 2023. Stephanie has nearly 30 years’ experience in the industry, which is evident with her wealth of knowledge.
She has passion, resilience and will do anything to get the best possible content delivered. She has a in-depth knowledge of archive content, processes and people. Not only has she been integral in delivering and licensing over 1000 minutes of archive footage, she has also been the Getty Images lead in launching the BBC’s ground breaking platform VIDA. Steph spent years, shaping, driving, testing and delivering the system. Stephanie led the webinar which had over 200 researchers, giving a demonstration of how it worked. To this day, Stephanie is still working with the archive community to understand where we can improve VIDA for the future. The best thing about Stephanie is ‘no’, or ‘it’s not possible’ is not acceptable, she gets to the core and pushes to get stuff done.
Dance Craze
Production Company:
R3store Studios Ltd
Synopsis
Capturing the peak of 2 Tone in the early 1980s, Dance Craze remains unique in the history of the concert film. Showcasing live performances from The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers, it’s a valuable time-capsule of the British genre that merged Jamaican ska with punk and new wave music. It also broke new ground for how to film bands on stage.
Aside from a brief VHS release in 1988 from the 35mm and the odd screening over the years, it has rarely been seen since. Restoring it for the first time and from the 70mm print has allowed a whole new audience by being able to screen it at the IMAX.
Archival highlights
The biggest challenge with this film was the grade as the 70mm film was extremally faded to red which happens with certain film stocks over time. However as you will see, the lights coming from the side of the stage were also red so it was very difficult to try to take out the red in the film but still retain the red that was coming off the lights. The film was very sparkly and had some scratches within it. Removing scratches where there is a lot of movement is very difficult also.
The Village / Unser Dorf
Production Company:
Cinémathèque suisse
Synopsis
Founded in 1924, Switzerland's oldest production company, Praesens-Film AG, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
The Village / Unser Dorf, the latest feature film directed by Swiss filmmaker Leopold Lindtberg for Praesens Films, is a drama driven by the idea of peace between nations. It tells the story of the fates of several war orphans from all over Europe, reunited in a village in the Swiss Alps at the end of the Second World War. A Swiss-British co-production, The Village / Unser Dorf is a multilingual work, like other collaborations between the filmmaker and the Zurich production company (Die letzte Chance, Die Vier im Jeep...); the performers come from ten different countries and the shooting, mainly in English and German, also includes scenes in French, Polish and Italian. Shot in Switzerland and England (Nettlefold Studios), the film was presented at Cannes in 1953, and was widely distributed on the international market, particularly in English-speaking countries. It won numerous awards, including the Bronze Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and the Silver Laurel at the David O. Selznick Awards.
Archival highlights
The restoration is the result of extensive preliminary work to identify and analyse all the film elements - over a hundred reels - deposited for this title at the Cinémathèque suisse by the Praesens-Films production company. Together with a meticulous study of the production's papers archive and press cuttings from the time, also kept at the Cinémathèque, it was possible to reconstruct a large part of the film's production history and to understand that there were two original versions from the very beginning : THE VILLAGE, technically of better quality, intended for the international market and presented at Cannes in 1953; and UNSER DORF, intended for the Swiss market, very similar to the first, but slightly longer and with around 20% of shots slightly different.
This project was carried out by the Cinémathèque suisse in collaboration with SRF and with the support of Memoriav.
Now and Then, The Last Beatles Song
Director:
Oliver Murray
Producer(s):
Jonathan Clyde / Sophie Hilton
Footage Archive Producer:
Oliver Murray
Archival Sources:
Apple Corps Ltd / MPL Communications Ltd / British Pathé / Getty Images / Yoko Ono Lennon
Production Company:
Orofena Films / Apple Corps / Universal Music
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Now and Then's eventful journey to fruition took place over five decades and is the product of conversations and collaborations between the four Beatles that go on to this day. The long mythologised John Lennon demo was first worked on in February 1995 by Paul, George and Ringo as part of The Beatles Anthology project but it remained unfinished because of the impossible technological challenges involved in working with the vocal John had recorded on tape in the 1970s. For years it looked like the song could never be completed. But in 2022 there was a stroke of serendipity. A software system developed by Peter Jackson and his team finally opened the way for the uncoupling of John’s vocal from his piano part. As a result, the original recording could be brought to life and worked on anew with contributions from all four Beatles. This remarkable story of musical archaeology reflects The Beatles’ endless creative curiosity and shared fascination with technology. It marks the completion of the last recording that John, Paul and George and Ringo will get to make together and celebrates the legacy of the foremost and most influential band in popular music history.
Nature Matters
Director:
Andy Burns
Producer(s):
Graham Relton
Editor(s):
Andy Burns
Footage Archive Researcher:
Megan McCooley / David Parsons / Montserrat Rovira Prieto / John Casey / Martin Watts / Ruth Patman
Footage Archive Producer:
Alexandra Stockdale-Haley / Martha Cattell
Executive Producer(s):
Martin Hall / Jenny Hall
Archival Sources:
Yorkshire and North East Film Archive collections, including local news material from our archive, ITV Archive and BBC Motion Gallery
Production Company:
Yorkshire and North East Film Archives
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
A love letter to nature and a call to action, ‘Nature Matters’ speaks across generations, using over a century of archive footage to remind us of our innate relationship with the natural world.
Have our fast-paced lives separated us from our childhood fascination with flora and fauna in the everyday, from countryside and coastal adventures, and knowledge of where our food comes from? Have we evolved to live in a society detached from nature?
“An empowering call to action – inspires without preaching.”
This timely short film explores our need for balance in a changing world: from the demand for resources, drive for profits and ‘progress’, offset against our fundamental human rights to access green spaces, clean air, water, and fertile soils to grow healthy food to feed our families.
What shines through is the human spirit, as individuals and communities fight to be on the right side of history, on a quest for environmental harmony and more sustainable lifestyles.
“[The film] has inspired me to try and get involved in more local community events and projects that will help the environment.”
Commissioned by York St John University’s Cinema and Social Justice Project, York Business School and the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives ‘Nature Matters’ project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
They All Came Out To Montreux
Director:
Oliver Murray
Producer(s):
Stuart Souter / Bill Lord / Oliver Murray / Nicolas Bonard / Quincy Jones
Footage Archive Producer:
Maureen Ford / Thierry Amsellem / Fraser Kennedy
Archival Sources:
The Montreux Jazz Festival / The Claude Nobs Foundation / Radio Television Suisse / Getty Images
Production Company:
BMG Films / Beyond TNC / Orofena Films / The Claude Nobs Foundation
Country of Production:
UK / Australia / Switzerland
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
The extraordinary story of the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival and its beloved founder, Claude Nobs. Starting in 1967, with no knowledge of the music industry, Claude began turning his sleepy hometown of Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva into a destination for the world's greatest music artists including Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Muddy Waters, Miles Davis, Etta James, Santana, Alicia Keys and Prince. From the beginning of the festival Claude organised for these performances to be captured on film. Now this archive, recognised by the UNESCO inscribed 'Memory Of The World Register', is available to the audiences for the first time. The series takes the viewer back in time to hear the trumpet of Miles Davis, the piano of Nina Simone and the guitar of BB King echo through 5 decades of candid recollections by dozens of the festival’s star performers and industry insiders. Over three one-hour episodes, the series includes more than 40 testimonies, 30 concert performances and a variety of previously unseen film and photography. Never before has a documentary of this magnitude been made on the history of the Montreux Jazz Festival offering a breath-taking panorama of half a century of music history.
American Experience: The War on Disco
Director:
Lisa Q. Wolfinger
Producer(s):
Lisa Q. Wolfinger / Rushmore DeNooyer / Cameo George
Footage Archive Producer:
Mary Antinozzi Soule
Archival Sources:
Retro Video / Historic Films / Chicago Film Archive / KinoLibrary / Media Burn
Production Company:
Lone Wolf Media / WGBH
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
The War on Disco explores the culture war that erupted over the spectacular rise of disco music. Originating in underground Black and gay clubs, disco had unseated rock as America’s most popular music by the late 1970s. But many diehard rock fans viewed disco, with its repetitive beat and culture that emphasized pleasure, as shallow and superficial. A story that’s about much more than music, The War on Disco explores how the powerful anti-disco backlash revealed a cultural divide that to some seemed to be driven by racism and homophobia. The hostility came to a head on July 12, 1979, when a riot broke out at “Disco Demolition Night” during a baseball game in Chicago.
Robbie Williams
Director:
Joe Pearlman
Producer(s):
Dominic Crossley-Holland / Asif Kapadia / Duncan Coates / Sally Brindle / Louis Mole / Kai Hsiung / Gabby Chelmicka / Helena Korner / Isabel Davis / Lottie Allen
Footage Archive Producer:
Tess Mcnally-Watson
Archival Sources:
Guy Chambers / RPW Archive / MTV EU / Universal / BBC
Production Company:
Ridley Scott Associates / Netflix UK
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Robbie Williams is nearly 50, a dad of four with a loving wife and a happy family. But he can’t escape his past — and his past has all been captured on film in thousands of hours of behind-the-scenes archive. He has never seen it, no one has. Until now.
Robbie’s way of exorcising his demons is to go back through it all, every up and every down. Platinum albums, sell-out gigs; drink, drugs, rock bottom and whatever comes next when you get there and keep digging.
Robbie Williams is a four-part documentary series that tells the story of one of Britain’s greatest modern performers — while also watching him try and make sense of it all. The star who famously promised to entertain you now has to ask himself, ‘At what price?'
Stephen Curry: Underrated
Director:
Peter Nicks
Producer(s):
Ryan Coogler / Erick Peyton / Ben Cotner / Marissa Torres Ericson / Sean Havey
Footage Archive Researcher:
Loi Almeron
Footage Archive Producer:
Matthew Fisher
Archival Sources:
NCAA / NBA / CBS Sports / Southern Conference / Catapult
Production Company:
Apple Original Films / A24 / Unanimous Media / Proximity Media
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
The coming-of-age story of one of the most influential players in the history of basketball: Stephen Curry. The documentary blends cinéma vérité, archival footage and on camera interviews to document Curry’s rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion.
Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Director:
Michèle Stephenson / Joe Brewster
Producer(s):
Michèle Stephenson / Joe Brewster / Tommy Oliver
Footage Archive Producer:
Hannah Shepard
Archival Sources:
WNET / WGBH / Getty / Fox / British Pathé
Production Company:
Rada Studio / Confluential Films / Cinetic Media / HBO Documentary Films
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
"The trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans." Legendary poet Nikki Giovanni's revelation is a launching pad to an inspiring exploration of her life and legacy. Through a collision of memories, moments in American history, live readings of her poetry, and impressions of space, Giovanni urges us to imagine a future where Black women lead, and equity is a reality.
Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson (American Promise, The Changing Same) craft a vision fit for the radical imagination of Nikki Giovanni. Present-day Giovanni reckons with the inevitable passing of time, while an evocative melding of vérité and archival images act as openings into her mindscape, transcending time and place. Brewster and Stephenson's approach is imaginative and dreamlike, akin to the way Giovanni's words are hair-raising in their power to summon unrealized ways of seeing. The Afro-futuristic lens honors Giovanni's complexity and transports us on a journey through Black liberation from the perspective of one of America's most acclaimed and beloved writers, a profound artist and activist. Next stop, Mars.
Mary Pickford, a blessing and a curse
Director:
Clara Kuperberg / Julia Kuperberg
Producer(s):
Clara Kuperberg / Julia Kuperberg
Footage Archive Producer:
Clara Kuperberg / Julia Kuperberg
Archival Sources:
Mary Pickford Foundation / Bison Archives / Pond 5 / UCLA
Production Company:
Wichita Films / Kali Pictures
Country of Production:
France / USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Mary Pickford's name remains inseparable from the legend of American cinema. She invented the star system at the beginning of the 20th century, and was the biggest star ever known, not just in Hollywood, but worldwide, at a time when actors didn't even have their names on movie posters.
She was more than a pioneer, she was a jack-of-all-trades: world-famous star, producer and formidable businesswoman, screenwriter and director in the shadows, studio boss, Mary Pickford alone embodied the entire legend of cinema and the advent of women in that particular era.
WHAM!
Director:
Chris Smith
Producer(s):
John Battsek / Chris Smith / Simon Halfon
Footage Archive Researcher:
Kitty Robertson
Footage Archive Producer:
Alex Black
Archival Sources:
BBC / Sony Music / MTV Viacom / So Pure / George Michael Entertainment
Production Company:
Ventureland / Library Films / Nemperor
Country of Production:
UK / USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
In 1982, the best of friends and still teenagers - George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as WHAM! set out to conquer the world.
By June of 1986, they played their very last gig at Wembley Stadium having done exactly that.
Now for the very first time, told in their own words, the amazing story of how in four years they dominated the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs.
Hit after hit - Club Tropicana, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Freedom, I’m Your Man and of course Last Christmas.
Their time in the spotlight was white-hot, becoming the very first Western pop act to play in China.
It was a time that both encapsulated and epitomised not just their youth, but also those of the many millions of fans that adored them.
WHAM! is a feature-length documentary that captures this magical time, from director Chris Smith (Tiger King, Sr.) and producers John Battsek (The Deepest Breath) and Simon Halfon (Supersonic)
With unprecedented access to both George and Andrew’s personal archive including remarkable and never-before-seen footage, alongside rare, candid and previously unheard interviews.
WHAM! charts their incredible journey from school friends to superstars.
Time Bomb Y2K
Director:
Brian Becker / Marley McDonald
Producer(s):
Brian Becker
Footage Archive Researcher:
Shelby Fintak / Kushagra Kar
Footage Archive Producer:
Brian Becker / Peter Nauffts
Archival Sources:
ABC / CNN / CBC / Misc Home Video / Veritone
Production Company:
HBO
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
As the clock counts down to the dawn of the 21 st century, the world faces the largest potential technological disaster to ever threaten humanity. The problem is comically simple yet incredibly complex – a bug that could cause computers to misinterpret the year 2000 as 1900, sowing chaos throughout the world as electronic systems failed. Crafted entirely through archival footage, TIME BOMB Y2K is a prescient and often humorous tale about the power and vulnerabilities of technology. By re-appraising both the cooperative efforts and mass hysteria surrounding this millennial milestone, TIME BOMB Y2K explores how modern life has been dramatically transformed by the digital revolution.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Director:
Davis Guggenheim
Producer(s):
Davis Guggenheim / Annetta Marion / Jonathan King / Will Cohen
Footage Archive Producer:
Jackie Clary
Archival Sources:
WTTW / CBS Media Ventures / Universal Studios / Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan / Carson Entertainment Group
Production Company:
Apple Original Films / Concordia Studio
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Told in his own words with a mix of archival and scripted elements, STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE recounts Fox’s rise to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The look at his public life unspools alongside his private journey including the years following his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease.
Amor
Director:
Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri
Producer(s):
Gabriele Genuino / Edoardo Fracchia / Elena Filippini / Stefano Tealdi / Rasa Miškinytė
Footage Archive Producer:
Guglielmo Parisani
Archival Sources:
Cinecittà, Istituto Luce / Superottimisti
Production Company:
RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana / STEFILM / ERA Film
Country of Production:
Italy / Lithuania
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
"When I see Rome I see my mother. It has been like this since she died".
A summer evening many years ago: the city is deserted, the World Cup final of the world football championship is underway.
A woman, Teresa, reaches the Tiber and lets herself go with its
current. The abyss swallows her and her daughter Virginia, in the darkness of the night, crosses Rome: he wants to find her and save her.
Virginia must cross the depths of the waters, of history, of myths, of misfortunes and the vital glow of a timeless Rome. So she can see again her mother emerge from the darkness of the Tiber to fly to Amor, 'the planet of the care' surrounded by water and where the streets, the squares, the fountains recall those of
Rome and the animals are free to roam.
JFK: One day in America
Director:
Ella Wright
Producer(s):
Charlotte Rodrigues / Sophie Dimitriadis / Henry Longden
Footage Archive Producer:
Margaret Beckett / Lisa Clayton-Jones / Alex Cowan / Jacqui Edwards
Archival Sources:
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza / The John F Kennedy Library and Museum / ABC News Videosource / Getty Images / Premium Archive Films: Editorial / NBC News / Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Production Company:
72 Films
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Secret Service agents and other key eyewitnesses give a powerful and emotional account of how President John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. From an enthusiastic reception on their arrival in Texas, JFK and Jackie travel to Dallas where President Kennedy is brutally shot while riding in the motorcade. A secret service agent narrowly misses the fatal bullet and at Parkland Hospital JFK tragically dies. America changes forever.
Henry Ford, l'inventeur du siècle américain (The dark side of citizen Ford)
Director:
Nicolas Glimois
Producer(s):
Samuel Kissous / Fabrice Frank
Footage Archive Producer:
Karim Kamrani Ghajar
Archival Sources:
Critical Past / NARA via Atelier des archives / Atelier des archives / The Henry Ford / Periscope Film
Production Company:
Pernel Media
Country of Production:
France
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Henry Ford is more than just a charismatic industrialist who revolutionized the world of cars and work. He was also an anti Semitic megalomaniac who put his weight behind delusional commercial projects and became one of Adolf Hitler’s greatest inspirations. This archived documentary reveals the complex life of a man with wild and controversial ambitions who would go on to invent the 20th century and change the face of America and the West.
Out of Control. Reports on the Atomic Bomb
Director:
Beatriz Caravaggio
Producer(s):
Beatriz Caravaggio
Footage Archive Producer:
Beatriz Caravaggio
Archival Sources:
CriticalPast / Los Alamos National Laboratory / National Archives and Records Administration / National Archives of Australia / Prelinger Archives
Production Company:
ArsVideo Producciones
Country of Production:
Spain
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Since the horrific bombings over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea have conducted more than 2,000 nuclear tests.
Governments systematically filmed these tests, amassing thousands of audiovisual archives. They were filmed in order to study scientifically the development of the detonation, just as hundreds of classified reports were written, dissecting the entire nuclear operation. Nothing was left undocumented in these reports, in which human beings, animals and life itself were little more than formal objects of analysis and intervention, and everything related to the domain of ethics and the preservation of life was expelled from the scope of consideration of these pages.
The precision and control of these nuclear tests have led to enormous stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, the consequence of an unstoppable arms race.
Agentur Karl Höfffkes / RGAKFD / Bleed & Geluid / KOBE Planet Film Archive / Australian War Memorial
Production Company:
Agat Films / ARTE France
Country of Production:
France
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
In Prague, on May 27, an attack against Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most terrifying servants of the Hitler regime, has just been carried out by Jan and Josef. Two Czechs, parachuted in January, to assassinate the blonde beast. Vladimir, the doctor on duty at the Prague hospital, has no idea what trouble awaits him. On June 4, Reinhardt Heydrich took his last breath. If the butcher of Prague dies, the fact remains that the persecutions against the Jewish people continue. The final solution is accelerating. In Paris, Francine discovers that she is not a little girl like the others, it is written on her chest. In Belgium, before their deportation, Adrien's parents entrusted their little boy to Brouwer's family. Adrien, hidden among the children, learns to live in a foreign family. For the survival of his wife and daughter Marie, Icek volunteers to work for the Germans.
Jan and Josef are nowhere to be found. Hitler in rage, little Vaclav will pay the high price of Nazi anger. Meanwhile, Johann-Paul Kremer, in Auschwitz, enjoys the dancing dog shows.
UKRAINIAN STORYBOX - Voices of War
Director:
David Belton
Producer(s):
Regina Bouchehri / Gunnar Dedio / Roman Martynenko / Olga Serdyuk / David Belton / Bjørn Johnson / Marie Pilhan / Eric Gonzalez
Footage Archive Producer:
Manuel Heller
Archival Sources:
Private Archives on Phones and Social Media / Screenocean / AP / Ukrainian State Institutions / Progress Film
Production Company:
LOOKSfilm / Yard44 / One Planet / MMDPRO
Country of Production:
Germany / UK / France / Ukraine
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 have been prohibited from leaving the country. Many women however have fled and continue to flee, while others remain – with their children, while the men are at the front. In this film, Ukrainian women tell us what they are experiencing and what they are suffering: the female perspective on an ongoing war. For an entire year, our film team has been travelling through Ukraine and other countries in Europe, asking Ukrainian women to tell their stories – in a wooden video booth designed specifically for the film, the storybox: no filter, no interviewer, no time limit.
The contributors tell a very subjective narrative about the war of personal experiences and memories. This approach is also reflected in the use of archive material. The majority of what we sourced is not from agencies or TV archives, it wasn't recorded by journalists, but by the very people we talked to.
Loch Ness They Created A Monster
Director:
John MacLaverty
Producer(s):
John Archer
Footage Archive Researcher:
Liga Gutane
Footage Archive Producer:
Joanna Taylor
Archival Sources:
BBC Scotland / Fremantle / Dinsdale Archive (private) / Scottish Television / Nippon TV
Production Company:
Indelible Telly / Hopscotch Films
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
There’s another story about the Loch Ness Monster- one that you don’t know.
It’s a tale of monstrous egos, of rivalry, flipper fraud, petrol bomb attacks and sex in caravans.
All is revealed in the hilarious and wild - Loch Ness They Created a Monster, which takes a deep dive into the golden era of Nessie hunting, and uncovers the real monsters.
In the supernatural nineteen seventies, the famously deep Highland Loch attracted monster hunters from America, Japan, England and across the world. Everyone who wanted to make a name for themselves came to Drumnadrochit with a camera and wellies ( and on a few occasions, a submarine)
But capturing Nessie, proved frustrating. And as months turned into years - facing reputational ridicule - some of the expeditions started getting ‘creative’ - supplying newspapers with plesiosaur portraits and fake flippers. Those seeking scientific credibility despaired and debunked, causing bad blood at the Loch. By the early eighties, violence erupted between competing camps.
This documentary turns the cameras around - and focuses on the Monster hunters themselves - revealing the unbelievable story, behind the unbelievable story.
Meeting Zelenskyy
Director:
Liev Schreiber / André Singer
Producer(s):
Rhodri Lowis
Footage Archive Researcher:
Rhodri Lowis / Masha Chelova
Footage Archive Producer:
Halyna Demydova
Archival Sources:
Kvartal 95 / Getty / AP / Suspilne Ukraine / International Commercial Television and Radio Company (ICTV) [Ukraine]
Production Company:
STILLKING 23 / Spring Films / Boat Rocker / Illuminated / Organisation of Ukrainian Producers
Country of Production:
UK / Canada / USA / Ukraine
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Until 2019, he was an entertainment super-star and mega successful businessman. Then in a remarkable move, Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned his attention to politics at a time when corruption and economic struggle at home were rife, and the shadow of a sword-rattling neighbour was falling increasingly heavily over Eastern Ukraine. Following a landslide election victory, he found himself Ukraine’s President, and soon after that the Russian threat exploded into a full-scale invasion. Putin expected a quick and easy victory but he miscalculated - the comedy President turned out to be a skilled and determined adversary. Suddenly, the world wanted to know more about this enigmatic man. This film answers those questions - unearthing his story from childhood under USSR domination to the heady days of show business stardom, always surrounded and supported by devoted friends, family and colleagues. Through an extended and personal in-depth interview with actor-filmmaker Liev Schreiber, we gain new insights into one of the most extraordinary characters of our age.
U-96, la véritable histoire de «DAS BOOT» / U-96, THE TRUE STORY OF ‘DAS BOOT’
Director:
Raphaël Millet
Producer(s):
Nocturnes Productions / Girelle Production / ECPAD / Phish Communications
Footage Archive Researcher:
Raphaël Millet
Footage Archive Producer:
ECPAD
Archival Sources:
ECPAD / BUCHHEIM MUSEUM DER PHANTASIE / BAVARIA MEDIA GmbH / Private colelctions of Luc Braeuer, Gerrit Reichert, Jost Vacano, Enrique Lehmann-Willenbrock / Colin Grimshaw
Production Company:
Nocturnes Productions / Girelle Production / ECPAD / Phish Communications
Country of Production:
France / Singapore
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
The international success of the film Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen made the U-96 one of the most famous submarines in cinematic history. But the true story of one of Hitler’s most fearsome U-boats and its crew goes far beyond fiction. For the first time, this documentary sheds light on the reality behind the fiction through exclusive interviews with the makers and actors of Das Boot, as well as the last survivors of the time. In doing so, this documentary explores how Hitler’s propaganda images may have influenced the visual and narrative force of Das Boot.
Obsessed with Light
Director:
Sabine Krayenbühl / Zeva Oelbaum
Producer(s):
Zeva Oelbaum / Sabine Krayenbühl
Footage Archive Researcher:
Lewanne Jones / Jennifer Latham
Footage Archive Producer:
Judy Aley
Archival Sources:
EYE Museum / Gaumont / University of South Carolina / Lobster / BFI
Production Company:
Between the Rivers Productions / ARTE / ZDF / YUZU Productions
Country of Production:
USA / France / Germany
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
"Obsessed with Light" is a meditation on light and the enduring obsession to create. It is about a trailblazer who disrupted the prevailing notions of dance and the imagined limits of the human body.
The film pulls back the curtain on Loïe Fuller, a wildly original performer who revolutionized the visual culture of the early 20th century. The American creator of modern dance, Fuller (1862–1928) invented a completely new kind of spectacle which combined dance, fabric and movement. She pioneered the ingenious use of electricity for the stage, even building a glass floor so she could be lit from below. Fuller shot to international stardom after performing at the Folies Bergère in Paris in 1892. She inspired some of the most important artists and thinkers of her era including Auguste Rodin, James Whistler, Stéphane Mallarmé and W.B.Yeats.
Creating a dialogue between the past and the present, our film delves into the astonishing influence Fuller's work has on contemporary artists like Taylor Swift, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bill T. Jones, Shakira and William Kentridge, among others. In the process, the film explores the creative process and uncovers commonalities that connect these luminaries to Fuller and to each other.
The Eichmann Trial
Director:
Elliot Levitt
Producer(s):
Elliot Levitt
Footage Archive Producer:
Jessica Berman-Bogdan
Archival Sources:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum / NBC (via Getty Images) / BBC (via Getty Images) / UCLA Film & Television Archive / CBC
Production Company:
Banality, LLC
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
In 1961, history was on trial…in a trial that made history. Just 15 years after the end of World War II, the Holocaust was already considered ancient history. Barely taught in high school or college courses, the attempted extermination of the Jewish people had been largely forgotten outside of Israel. All that changed on May 11, 1960 when Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi officer hiding in Argentina, was captured and whisked to Jerusalem to stand trial. Over the course of a nearly four-month proceeding, filmed in its entirety and broadcast worldwide on television, many learned for the first time about the extent and horror of Nazi atrocities. During Eichmann’s fiery cross-examination, a debate over disobedience to orders and the banality of evil began which continues to this day.
Told entirely through archival footage of the trial itself and contemporaneous news coverage, The Eichmann Trial documents the most shocking trial in history, and the birth of Holocaust awareness and education.
La Shoah des ghettos (Ghettos in the Holocaust)
Director:
Barbara Necek
Producer(s):
Samuel Kissous / Fabrice Frank
Footage Archive Producer:
Christine Loison
Archival Sources:
AKH - Agentur Karl Hoffkes / Yad Vashem / The Bundes Archiv / National Center Jewish (Brandeis) / Bednarski Eric
Production Company:
Pernel Media
Country of Production:
France
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Unlike a widely held belief, the extermination of Jews was not decided during the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. This idea had been haunting the minds of the German leaders since 1938 without having been formulated directly. The regime’s high dignitaries chose to accustom their subordinates to this funereal idea in a progressive way, first by taking a series of anti Semitic laws, then deciding to temporary lock them up in ghettos. But they went far beyond… The 1 000 ghettos will be part of the logic of the genocide. This film allows us to consider the ghettos in a new light: these spaces have been an integral part of the Holocaust and its macabre process from the beginning.
HATTON
Director:
Daniel Dewsbury
Producer(s):
John McKenna
Footage Archive Researcher:
Peter Scott / John Smith
Footage Archive Producer:
Cristina Miro
Archival Sources:
Top Rank Boxing / AP Archive / ITV Archive / Insurgency Films / Krafty Entertainment
Production Company:
NOAH MEDIA GROUP / SKY
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
British boxer Ricky Hatton incredible journey from Manchester Council estate to fighting in Las Vegas. Also explores themes of celebrity and mental health, acting as both a celebration of talent and cautionary talent.
Race to the Summit
Director:
Nicholas de Taranto / Götz Werner
Producer(s):
David Tryhorn / Max Dobbyn
Footage Archive Researcher:
Alessandra Berti
Footage Archive Producer:
Andres Aristizabal
Archival Sources:
SRF / Don Bowie - personal archive / Mammut / Docmine Productions / Helliventures
Production Company:
Pitch International
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Race to the Summit unfolds the intersecting narratives of two Swiss alpinists, Dani Arnold and Ueli Steck, whose lightning-quick ascents of the Alps’ most perilous north faces captured the world’s attention and opened up a controversial new frontier in the ancient pursuit of mountain climbing.
Mountains like the Eiger or the Matterhorn take an accomplished mountaineer a day or more to scale. Dani and Ueli soloed them in less than three hours - with no ropes or safety equipment. But this high stakes duel came with unintended consequences and led both men to discover where their limits lay.
Featuring never-before-seen archive and interviews with those closest to Ueli and Dani, including legendary climbers Alex Honnold and Don Bowie, Race to the Summit is Europe's answer to award-winning climbing features such as Fourteen Peaks and Free Solo. The Daily Mail declared it, ‘a breathless, vertigo-inducing documentary about the drive to be the best.’
Mark Cavendish: Never Enough
Director:
Alex Kiehl
Producer(s):
David Tryhorn
Footage Archive Researcher:
Andres Aristizabal / Finn Cotter
Footage Archive Producer:
Kirsty Asher
Archival Sources:
ASO / Pro Cycling Team / Dimension Data / Nick Poole & Decolef LUX (Quick-Step) / WEDU / UCI
Production Company:
Pitch International
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
On July 2nd 2016, British cyclist Mark Cavendish won his 27th Tour de France stage. The first British rider ever to wear the Tour’s green jersey now donned the coveted yellow jersey for the first time in his career. Three more stage wins followed that summer, bringing the great Eddy Merckx’s 41-year-old record of 34 stage wins within Mark’s grasp.
Mark needed four more stage wins to cement his legacy as cycling’s greatest-ever sprinter. He got five agonising years of injury, illness and depression instead.
By the spring of 2021, he was struggling to find a team. He hadn’t added to his tally of 30 Tour de France stage wins; nobody imagined that he would.
With exclusive access to Mark, his wife Peta, his team-mates, and his coaches, Mark Cavendish: Never Enough charts the rise, fall and resurrection of a genuine sporting great and the wiliest, most effective, and most confrontational cyclist ever. Raw and honest, this feature-length documentary is an uplifting profile in resilience and self-belief that reveals the inside story of one of the most inspiring and unexpected comebacks in sporting history. The Times stated, ‘even if cycling isn’t your passion, this film is edge-of-your-seat-stuff.’
Mei Lanfang's Artistic Impact Abroad 梅兰芳的中国文化走出去
Director:
Yu Weihong
Producer(s):
Wang Min
Footage Archive Producer:
Yu Weihong
Archival Sources:
Shanghai Audiovisual Archives of Shanghai Media Group / Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive / University of South Carolina Libraries
Production Company:
Shanghai Audiovisual Archives of Shanghai Media Group
Country of Production:
China
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Mei Lanfang was a great pioneer in promoting Chinese culture to the world. Throughout his lifetime, he committed himself to inheriting and promoting excellent Chinese opera art. Introducing and disseminating Chinese culture to the world through external exchanges was a crucial experience in his artistic career. In 1919, Mei Lanfang, a rising star in the Chinese opera industry, embarked on his first overseas performance tour to Japan, with cultural similarities to China, with his innovative ideas and broadened horizons. In 1930, Mei Lanfang departed from Shanghai to visit the United States, where his Eastern art caused a sensation during his six-month tour. During this time, he filmed his first sound film, Fei Chen-o and the "Tiger" General, and was awarded honorary doctorates in literature from two prestigious American universities. In 1935, he led a delegation to visit the Soviet Union, engaging in profound artistic discussions with Soviet artists. His representation of Chinese art also garnered high praise from Stanislavski, Meyerhold, and Eisenstein. Eisenstein filmed a sound film of Mei Lanfang performing the Peking Opera "Rainbow Pass." Via these endeavors, Mei Lanfang took Peking Opera art to the world, fostering profound friendships with internationally renowned artists through artistic exchanges.
Black History in 2 Minutes (or so) - "The Origins of Black Basketball"
Director:
Kelsi Lindus
Producer(s):
Robert Smith / Henry Louis Gates, Jr / Dyllan McGee
Footage Archive Producer:
Megan Graham / Jade Edwards-Lovell
Archival Sources:
Getty Images / Pond5 / The Black Fives Foundation / Solomon Sir Jones Films. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library / Newspapers.com
Production Company:
McGee Media / Hidden Empire
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Bill Russell; Michael Jordan; LeBron James. Black athletes have at times been synonymous with the sport of basketball, but it wasn’t always that way. Invented at the turn of the 20th century, basketball was initially played in segregated leagues — that is, until the exceptional talent and contributions of a few standout Black teams, including the New York Renaissance, became impossible for the newly formed NBA to ignore.
In this episode of Black History in Two Minutes (or so) hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — with additional commentary from author and filmmaker Nelson George and author and historian Claude Johnson — we explore the origins of Black basketball, including a heated championship match-up that helped shift the trajectory of the sport. Black History in Two Minutes (or so) is the new way to immerse yourself in Black history. The digital video series features dozens of condensed, engaging, and factually accurate videos about important historical events and people who have shaped Black history, from the African continent to the foundations of the United States to contemporary freedom struggles.
BBC Motion Gallery / Abkco / KinoLibrary / Radio Whistledown / AP
Production Company:
BBC Studios
Country of Production:
UK
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
The Rolling Stones Chronicles series, co-produced by BBC Motion Gallery and ABKCO consists of six documentary shorts, each featuring a different ‘60s-era hit song by The Rolling Stones as its soundtrack. The music combines thematically relevant interview clips from the band and contemporary historical figures, interspersed with historical documentary footage of related world events.
Episodes are based around the seismic cultural shifts between 1965 and 1969, of which The Rolling Stones themselves were emblematic.
BoyleSports Rain (English Language Version)
Director:
Dom Goldman
Producer(s):
Hanna Davies
Footage Archive Researcher:
Jared Brown
Footage Archive Producer:
Hazel May
Archival Sources:
IMG / Race Course Media Group / At The Races / Jason Neff / New Zealand Rugby
Production Company:
Collective Studios / Hazel May / Stalkr
Country of Production:
UK / USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
RAIN. DOESN’T. CARE.
The film acts as an ode to rain, taking an unusual angle on sports betting and the impact weather plays and its indifference to the outcome.
The TVC explores how inclement weather might impact the outcome of a sporting event whether its horse-racing, F1 or football. While rain doesn’t care about who is playing what, the person placing the bet should care and that’s “why they should choose wisely.”
Tide "You're Gonna Need More Tide"
Director:
Traktor
Producer(s):
Dani Stoller
Footage Archive Researcher:
James Bernal/Lauren Wackell / Brandi Self / Jeffrey Harland / Jen Tam
Footage Archive Producer:
George Alvarez
Archival Sources:
Jukin / Rumble / TikTok / Home Video Licensing
Production Company:
STALKR / Saatchi & Saatchi
Country of Production:
USA
Original Release:
2023
Synopsis
Tide marks the release of their new Power Pods with this self-aware, conceptually brilliant and very funny spot which informs the viewer that ‘You’re Gonna Need More Tide.’ The ad celebrates the meme-culture that has made Tide an internet phenomenon over the years, whilst also cleverly reframing some of the most messy, viral videos thanks to the digital inclusion of Kumail Nanjiani. From collapsing ceilings and a baby covered in peanut butter, to exploding watermelons, Nanjiani’s trademark charm reinvents these grimy meme-worthy moments, sourced and cleared by STALKR, as the perfect opportunity for Power Pods to do what they do best.
