2026 FOCAL International Awards Shortlisted Nominees
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.
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2026 Best Use of Footage in an Arts & Cultural Production
Productions that encompass documentaries, docudramas or fiction that feature arts and cultural subjects. For example, productions might focus on literature, visual arts, the history of film and television or biographies of artists, writers and entertainers.
Shortlisted
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost
Director:
Ben Stiller
Producer(s):
Ben Stiller / Geoffrey Richman / Lizz Morhaim / John Lesher
Apple Original Films / XTR / Pickled Entertainment / Red Hour
Country of Production:
United States
Original Release:
2025
Synopsis
Ben Stiller tells the story of his parents, comedy duo, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, exploring their impact both on popular culture and at home, where the lines between creativity, family, life and art often blurred.
Quand tu écouteras cette chanson (When You Listen to this Song)
Director:
Mona Achache
Producer(s):
Anne Schuchman-Kune
Footage Archive Researcher:
Gianna Franceschini
Footage Archive Producer:
Sharon Hammou
Archival Sources:
Gaumont Pathé Archives / FPA Classics / INA / Les Documents cinématographiques / Beeld & Geluid
Production Company:
Schuch Productions
Country of Production:
France
Original Release:
2025
Synopsis
In August 2021, writer Lola Lafon spent a night alone in the Annex of the Anne Frank Museum, where the young girl and her family hid from 1942 to 1944. This experience gave rise to a book, "Quand tu écouteras cette chanson", and now its documentary adaptation. Over the course of a night, the author revisits her story. An inner journey around the figure of Anne Frank and the power of writing in the face of oblivion.
My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay
Director:
Mariska Hargitay
Producer(s):
Mariska Hargitay / Trish Adlesic
Footage Archive Researcher:
Olivia Streisand
Footage Archive Producer:
Lindsey Schneider
Executive Producer(s):
Lauran Bromley / Nancy Abraham / Lisa Heller
Senior Producer(s):
Anna Klein
Archival Sources:
Fox Media Archives / Associated Press / Reuters / BBC / INA MediaPro
Production Company:
Mighty Entertainment
Country of Production:
United States
Original Release:
2025
Synopsis
In her feature film directorial debut—and the first time she has delved into her mother Jayne Mansfield’s story—Mariska Hargitay searches for the mother she never knew almost six decades after the Hollywood legend’s tragic death. Through intimate interviews and an extensive collection of never-before-seen photos and home movies, she grapples with her mother’s complicated public and private legacy, uncovering the surprising layers and depth of who Jayne was, not only to her fans, but also to those closest to her.
Mariska was three years old when her mother, Jayne Mansfield, tragically died in a car accident at the age of 34—leaving behind five children. The film follows Mariska as she seeks to answer her long-held questions about her mother.
Featuring film clips from Jayne’s work in the 1950s and ‘60s, archival footage from her many talk show appearances and interviews, as well as striking personal footage, the film contextualizes the dazzling star power of the most photographed Hollywood celebrity of her day. A story of loss and longing, healing and transformation, MY MOM JAYNE is a testament to the rewards of an unflinching search for truth to reclaim her mother’s story—and her own.
Do You Love Me
Director:
Lana Daher
Producer(s):
Jean-Laurent Csinidis / Lana DAHER
Footage Archive Researcher:
Emmanuelle Yacoubi
Archival Sources:
Nadi Lekol Nas / Abbout Productions / Bahij Hojeij / Association Jocelyne Saab / Mille et une productions
Production Company:
Films de Force Majeure / My Little Films / Wood Water Films
Country of Production:
France / Lebanon / Germany
Original Release:
2025
Synopsis
DO YOU LOVE ME is an archive-based documentary that follows the lived experiences of generations of Lebanese from the 1950s until today. It utilises a wide range of mixed media collected from journalistic archives, T.V. & pop culture, video art pieces, photography, radio, newspaper prints, documentary and fiction films, home videos, and personal archives. The film covers the oscillation between moments of war and moments of calm throughout the given period. Featuring the stories, anecdotes, songs, art, and culture of the people who remained in Lebanon through these years we begin to see and understand this society’s collective memory, dynamics, and psyche. Rather than recounting a more traditional history, the film attempts to portray an emotional ethnography of the Lebanese people. It presents us with the conundrum of a country that is stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to agree on its own past, present, or future. The film’s focus is not on a deep nostalgia for the past or the promise of any answers: instead, it lingers on the questions raised about life in these challenging times and how it affects our experience of the present.
Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story
Director:
Yemi Bamiro
Producer(s):
Joanna Boateng / Lizzie Gillett / Ian Bonhôte / Andrew Calof
Footage Archive Producer:
Emma Dempsey
Archival Sources:
Kwame Brathwaite Family Archive / WNET / ABC News / Historic Films / Imago
Production Company:
Misfits Entertainment / Wayfarer Studios / Mediawan Rights / Entourage Media / Shanakee Archive Agency
Country of Production:
United Kingdom / United States
Original Release:
2025
Synopsis
This feature documentary uncovers the extraordinary life, work, and legacy of the long-overlooked yet hugely influential photographer and activist Kwame Brathwaite, a central figure in the Black is Beautiful movement.
While ‘Black is Beautiful’ is now widely recognised as a slogan and concept, few people know where it came from or the people behind it and one of the key people to elevate the idea in public consciousness was Kwame Brathwaite. This film reveals Kwame’s profound impact on Black identity, culture and politics, tracing the lasting ripple effects of his work across generations and around the globe.
Spanning seven decades, the story begins in 1950s Harlem where Kwame began documenting a vibrant cultural scene, and continues to the present day, as his son, Kwame Jr., faces the challenge of preserving the vast photographic archive he has inherited. Through these images, we discover the depth of Kwame’s vision and achievements.
Though Black history is still often framed by pain and trauma, this film instead celebrates Black beauty through joy, pride, and creativity. It is both a tribute to a groundbreaking artist and an act of preservation in itself, securing Kwame Brathwaite’s rightful place in history.
