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2026 FOCAL International Awards Shortlisted Nominees

2026 Best Use of Footage in a Factual or Natural World Production

Documentaries or docudramas that deal with current affairs or topical issues, people, events, or phenomena. The category covers a wide array of subjects, such as the economy, politics, the environment or natural world, science and technology, natural disasters, climate breakdown, and human-interest stories.

Shortlisted

The Bibi Files

Director:
Alexis Bloom
Producer(s):
Alexis Bloom / Alex Gibney / Raviv Drucker / Kara Elverson / David Rahtz
Footage Archive Researcher:
Daniel Bellone
Footage Archive Producer:
Eitan Amrami
Archival Sources:
Leaked Israeli police interrogation footage / IPBC-Kan / AP / NBC / CH12 News Israel
Production Company:
Jigsaw Productions
Country of Production:
United States
Original Release:
2025

Synopsis

The Bibi Files is a searing documentary about corruption, power, and survival.

The film centers on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a leader whose political career has been marked by his relentless pursuit to remain in power, even at the cost of his country’s democratic values. The filmmakers were leaked never-before-seen police interrogation videos of Netanyahu, his family, and his closest allies, exposing a steady pattern of lavish gifts and quid pro quo dealings with powerful media and business figures.

This footage is interwoven with archival material that traces Netanyahu’s three decades in power and the deep divisions his leadership has left in Israeli society. Interviews with journalists, statesmen, longtime friends, and former associates reveal a chilling portrait of a man who, to avoid justice, forged alliances with radical right-wing extremists.

Ultimately, The Bibi Files shows how Netanyahu’s obsession with political survival has endangered Israel’s security, eroded its democratic standing, and echoed the authoritarian impulses now threatening democracies around the globe.

Breakdown: 1975

Director:
Morgan Neville
Producer(s):
Lauren Belfer / Morgan Neville
Footage Archive Researcher:
Jackie Clary
Footage Archive Producer:
Jane Kelly Kosek
Archival Sources:
Retro Video / Veritone / CBS News Archives / AP Archive / Getty Images / Carson Entertainment
Production Company:
Tremolo Productions
Country of Production:
United States
Original Release:
2025

Synopsis

Breakdown: 1975 is an exploration of the time period beginning with Nixon's resignation in August 1974 and going through to the Bicentennial celebrations in July 1976, looking specifically at how the films of this pivotal era, such as Jaws, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, Nashville, Network, All the President’s Men, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Chinatown, and many more, served as a mirror for the social and political shifts occurring at that time. In the mid-70s, America was having a nervous breakdown. Crime was up, tensions were high, paranoia was rampant. There was one question: What the hell was going on? This movie tries to answer that question.

Craigavon, New City

Director:
Colm Laverty
Producer(s):
Colm Laverty / Francis Jones / Lisa Duggan
Footage Archive Researcher:
Paul McClintock / Bronagh McAtasney / Evan Marshall
Footage Archive Producer:
Colm Laverty
Archival Sources:
Digital Film Archive / British Newspaper Archive / The JR James Archive / Craigavon Museum Collection / Ordinance Survey Maps, Public Record Office Northern Ireland
Production Company:
Northern Ireland Screen
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Original Release:
2025

Synopsis

Filmmaker Colm Laverty looks at the story of Craigavon, a new city developed in the Northern Ireland countryside and in line with the movement towards high-tech communal living as already under way in Cumbernauld and Milton Keynes. This film blends archive footage and contemporary interviews to tell the story of the Craigavon New City project and reflect on the hopes, complexities, and legacy of the project. Sixty years on feelings still run strong on the loss of farm land and countryside for a project that many feel never reached its potential as violent conflict enveloped Northern Ireland.

David Frost Vs

Director:
Liz Mermin
Producer(s):
Tamar Lawson
Footage Archive Researcher:
Matthew Philip Price / Sam Cunningham
Footage Archive Producer:
Ernest Stoddart
Archival Sources:
David Paradine Productions / Veritone / Getty Images / ABC News Video Source / KABC-TV
Production Company:
Sky Studios / Paradine Productions / White Horse Pictures
Country of Production:
United Kingdom
Original Release:
2025

Synopsis

Of all David Frost’s interviews, it is the 28 hours he records with the disgraced former President Richard Nixon that have left their deepest mark in popular culture. As an Englishman, David is an outsider, but he outbids the US television networks for the opportunity to confront Nixon.

Nixon has received a Presidential pardon so these interviews will be the only opportunity to call him to account for his alleged crimes: covering up the infamous Watergate affair and authorising illegal covert operations on his enemies. David must draw out an apology; he’s staked both his professional integrity and $10million in today’s money. It’s a battle of the titans that will go on to play out on stage and screen in Frost/Nixon.

El negre té nom (The Black Man Has a Name)

Director:
Fèlix Colomer
Producer(s):
David Bassa Cabanas / Sílvia Pairó Vila / Leire Ariz / Frank Belyeu / Fèlix Colomer Vallès
Footage Archive Producer:
Francesc Perez Rodriguez
Archival Sources:
3Cat / TVE / The New York Times / The European / El Punt Avui
Production Company:
3Cat / Producciones del K.0
Country of Production:
Spain
Original Release:
2025

Synopsis

The man in the glass cage. 

He was displayed like an artifact. But he was a man. For 88 years, his body stood behind glass in a small-town museum in Spain. Dissected, taxidermied, and labeled "Bushman", stripped of name, story, and dignity. His journey began with colonial violence and ended in global controversy. In 1991, one voice dared to ask: What is a human life worth? The answer shook a country and nearly derailed the Barcelona Olympics. 

This is the first time his full story is told. Haunting, urgent, ungorgettable.