View this years nominees
We received a wide variety of submissions this year, making it a challenging and rewarding deliberation process for the jurors.
We congratulate all the the shortlisted nominees. Good Luck
Best Use of Footage in a Factual or Natural World Production
The Factual or Natural World Production category includes documentaries or docudramas that deal with current affairs or topical issues, people, events or phenomena. The Factual genre covers a wide array of subjects such as the economy, politics, the environment or natural world, science & technology, natural disasters, climate breakdown, and human-interest stories. Submissions can include feature length productions and series.
The Judges will be looking for examples of work where:
- footage is central to the success of the production or it has given it an added value
- intelligent use of archival footage has helped the understanding of the topic or illustrated it in a way that words alone could not do
- traditional construction or innovative use of footage has managed to portray a topic in a unique way
Judges will also consider any of the following:
- has the archive material been widely seen?
- what efforts have been made to find new and / or appropriate footage?
- what efforts that have been made to ensure that the footage looks as good as possible?
- does what is seen on the screen match what the commentary or interviews say?
- is the programme’s narration factually accurate?
- is the use of footage historically accurate?
The criteria are deliberately loose, as submitted productions may be judged in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons.
Recipient - The award should go to the production team involved, including the Footage Researcher(s), headed by the Director or Producer. Supporting visual material is required. There is a £75(plus VAT) submission fee for this category.
Entries for the 2020 FOCAL International Awards have now CLOSED. The 2021 Awards will be opening for submissions November 2020, please kept an eye out for further information.
The FOCAL Awards celebrate three areas – production, restoration and preservation, and people. All our production categories celebrate the very best use of footage within the production, programme or project.