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FOCAL Awards

Award for Best Use of Footage in a Current Affairs Production

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Submissions details

Cited Work	Tin Soldiers
Production Company	Piraya Film as
Producer	Torstein Grude
Director	Stian Indrevoll
Film/VT Editor	Erik Andersson
Archive Researcher (s)	Stian Indrevoll
Top Sources of Footage	Gunnar Brandsdal Home Video
	Dark Side TV
	ITN
	NRK aktivum
	Norwegian Army Media Center
Duration	48 minutes
First Shown	NRK - 28/10/2004
Country of Origin	Norway
Synopsis	Through UN-soldier Gunnar Brandsdal's video diary, we get to know the life inside Force Mobile Reserve camp in South Lebanon 1996. It is a military service resembling a holiday in the sun with parties and drinking; But soon the gravity picks up and the laughter gets stuck in their throats. April 18th, the Israeli army bombs a nearby UN camp that hosts more than 500 Palestinian refugees. The soldiers are sent out on a rescue operation, to find survivors among all the dead. Afterwards the Israeli army claims the bombing was a accident, but Gunnar Brandsdal's tapes show something else.
Reasons for Submission	In midst of the fog of war, the images from a handycam prooved that Israel commited a war crime when they bombed the Qana compound. The political cover up was revealed by a single video tape, brought to the attention of the world by a UN soldier who disobeyed orders. Tin Soldiers has three intervowen timelines, two of which are told entirely through archival material. Our goal was to take the audience back in time through the archival material in such a way as to forget that the main part of what they see is actually 7 years old. We wanted to bring the present day experience and that of 7 years ago together.

Cited Work	Kursk, a Submarine in Troubled Waters
Production Company	Les Films Grain De Sable
Producer / Director	Jean-Michel Carré
Writer	Jean-Michel Carré
Film/VT Editor	Michèle Hollander
Archive Researcher (s)	Masha
Top Sources of Footage	NTV Russia
	RTR Russia
	Television Mourmansk
	Private sources
	LCI France
Duration	70 minutes
First Shown	RTBF, 24/10/2004
Country of Origin	France
Synopsis	During a military exercise in August 2000, Kursk, the state of the art Russian nuclear submarine, sank with its crew in the Barents Sea. The tragedy has never been completely elucidated. Four years later this film retraces the events, throwing astonishing new light on the affair and disclosing facts hitherto carefully concealed for diplomatic reasons. American and Chinese involvement in the affair could have led to a third world war. A political documentary thriller, this film shows how the Kursk tragedy forced Vladimir Putin to show his political intentions more rapidly than he had intended and paradoxically, his unexpected qualities as a statesman in the making and the development of his relations with the West. The events concerning Kursk, are intimately linked with his methodical and calculated acquisition of power.
Reasons for Submission	This film is largely constructed from archives obtained in Russia over the 3 years that followed the Kursk tragedy. Most of these archives were difficult to obtain at the time and will be even more so in the future as they illustrate aspects of Russian politics that those in power would like to conceal. Some of them also come from private sources. They enabled us to construct our story and some (those of the shkval torpedo and Kursk submarine enabled the 3D graphist to reconstruct the actual weapons and submarines. The originality of their use is in the form of the documentary itself which uses certain options belonging to the world of fiction.

Cited Work	Imelda
Production Company	CineDiaz, Inc.
Producer / Director	Ramona S. Diaz
Writer
Film/VT Editor	Leah Marino
Archive Researcher (s)	Ramona S. Diaz & Anne Del Castillo
Top Sources of Footage	Moving Image Communications Ltd
	Philippine Information Agency
	NBC News Archives
	NARA
	BBC Motion Gallery
Duration	103 minutes
First Shown	2004 Sundance Film Festival
Country of Origin	USA
Synopsis	Imelda marks the first time that Imelda Marcos has agreed to tell her story. The filmmaker and her crew were given unprecedented access to Marcos’s life, following her throughout the Philippines. Combining archival footage, news stories, home movies, interviews with Marcos herself as well as political opponents and loyalist friends, and scenes from Marcos's daily life in the Philippines, Imelda details Marcos's controversial rise from humble provincial origins with a mixture of guile, ambition, and beauty to become one of the richest and most powerful women in contemporary world history. And yes, she even addresses the question that is on everyone’s mind: what about all those shoes?
Reasons for Submission	Archives are more than illustrative. They are shown to contrast Imelda Marcos' comments over events, in a more oblique approach than you would have expected. Archives not only show things but explain and put real issues in the spotlight.

Cited Work	The Power of Nightmares Eps. 1 *Baby It's Cold Outside*
Production Company	BBC
Producer	Adam Curtis
Director
Writer
Film/VT Editor
Archive Researcher (s)	Stuart Robertson
Top Sources of Footage	BBC Motion Gallery
	APTN
	CNN
	Getty Images

Duration	60 minutes x 3 episodes
First Shown	BBC2, 20/10/2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams weren't true - neither are these nightmares. This series shows dramatically how the threat of Islamist terrorism has been distorted and exaggerated by politicians. While there is a terrorist threat from radical Islamism, the idea that we are faced by a terrifying hidden organisation of unique power orchestrated by an evil mastermind Osama bin Laden is a fantasy. At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neoconservatives and the radical Islamists. Together they created today's nightmare vision of an organised terror network. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age.
Reasons for Submission	The aim of the Power of Nightmares was to use the past to look again at the present and cut through many of the myths that now surround the War on terror. Because of this archive film from a multitude of sources was central to the project. Archive was used in a creative and often surprising way not just to illustrate past events but also to imaginatively understand the present in a new way. It was a modern collage that showed the extent to which archive film can be used in new ways that allow the audience to step back and view the present day in a new and informative light.

Cited Work	The Sex.com Story
Production Company	Making Time
Producer	Toby Dye
Director	Simon George
Writer
Film/VT Editor
Archive Researcher (s)	Simon George & Toby Dye
Top Sources of Footage




Duration	48 minutes
First Shown	Five, 24/05/2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	Documentary looking at the World's greatest trickster, Stephen Michael Cohen, who made millions by stealing the domain sex.com from a computer nerd.
Reasons for Submission	The overall feel of the piece had to communicate the documentary's themes of sex, crime and the internet. Crucially though we needed footage to illustrate the character/actions of Stephen Michael Cohen - a pivotal character in the story but tricky to illustrate as there is limited archive footage/stills of this arch-criminal who is currently on the run.

Cited Work	Iraq: Counting the Cost (A Channel 4 News Special)
Production Company	ITN Factual
Producer
Director	Nick London
Writer	Nick London
Film/VT Editor	James Calderwood
Archive Researcher (s)	Alex Cowan
Top Sources of Footage	ITN Archive, & Reuters Collection
	Michael Burke
	APTN
	NHK
	Al Jazeera
Duration	42 minutes
First Shown	Channel 4, 28/06/2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	On the day of the handover, the film examines the true price of the continuing conflict in Iraq: The shocking number of casualties - British, American and Iraqi. The reality of ‘reconstruction’ and what it has brought to the lives of the average Iraqi. The firms that are benefiting from the chaos of the security situation. The difficulties of reporting Iraq and how journalists are only giving a partial picture. The political, financial and long-term consequences of the Coalition’s involvement.
Reasons for Submission	This documentary drew a line under the occupation of Iraq up to June 30th by selecting not only the most arresting archive images, but revealing footage never before seen on TV.

Cited Work	*BBC This World* Eps. Iran: A Murder Mystery
Production Company	BBC
Producer	Angeli Mehta
Director	Diana Hill
Writer
Film/VT Editor	Joe Bentley
Archive Researcher (s)	Nick Dodd
Top Sources of Footage	BBC Motion Gallery
	CBC
	Reuters (stills)


Duration	60 minutes
First Shown	BBC2, 15/02/2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	This is the story of Zahra Kazemi’s journey back to her homeland after nearly 30 years in exile. As a photojournalist she found herself in Iran during the student protests of June 2003 – and in a country tense, turbulent and paranoid. Three weeks later she was dead. ‘This World’ undertook an exclusive investigation into her death – and the attempts to cover up what happened- exposing an extraordinary battle for the heart of Iran. The film charts Zahra’s life - growing up under an increasingly autocratic Shah; and from the safety of Paris witnessing its transformation into an Islamic republic. We used some extraordinary archive footage to make that journey – and take viewers to Zahra Kazemi’s Iran. The authorities in Iran didn’t want us to make this film: most officials and ordinary people were unwilling or too scared to be interviewed. 18 months on – any means of uncovering the whole truth is firmly under wraps. Zahra’s son Stephan is still campaigning to have his mother’s body returned to her adopted home in Canada.
Reasons for Submission	From the outset this documentary was always going to be archive-heavy in terms of telling the story of Zahra's death and how Iran operates today. Against all the odds and the wishes of the Iranian authorities, this film was made, utilising archive footage in a dramatic synthesis of past and present.

Cited Work	BBC This World Eps. *Ethiopia: A Journey with Michael Buerk*
Production Company	BBC
Producer	Clifford Bestall
Director	Clifford Bestall
Writer	Michael Buerk
Film/VT Editor	Gareth Williams
Archive Researcher (s)	Nick Dodd & Jim Anderson
Top Sources of Footage	BBC Motion Gallery
	Live Aid
	Camera Pix
	Ethiopia TV
	CBC
Duration	90 minutes
First Shown	BBC2, 11/01/2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	20 years ago Michael Buerk filed two reports from Ethiopia’s “biblical” famine, that struck the world and started a chain of events leading to millions of ordinary people helping Africa in whatever way they could. In this film Michael travels back to Ethiopia, meeting a series of remarkable people whose lives were defines or transformed by the famine. From the dying baby in the Live Aid video who is now a beautiful trainee nurse, to Claire, the British Red cross worker who had to decide who could live and who could die. Michael tries to understand what we should remember - was it the noblest time with ordinary people in the first world feeling the pain of the third, in a way that has never happened before. Or did we betray Ethiopia, creating a nation of beggars where twice as many people are hungry today.
Reasons for Submission	Twenty years ago a shocking BBC news report was shown across the world. It fused the concern of the First World with the need of the Third World in a way that had never happened before and has never happened since. In ETHIOPIA: A JOURNEY WITH MICHAEL BUERK, the archive of the famine reports and coverage of Britain’s response, are inter-cut with contemporaneous footage to better understand the unprecedented wave of sympathy that raised $130 million from private individuals and more than $1 billion from governments that went on to reshape the rich world’s aid policies. With the benefit of hindsight, the historical material is analysed by characters who were involved in relief efforts in Ethiopia. Unbelievably perhaps, this film links past and present with even greater power than the original news reports, to inspire and move its audience.

Cited Work	The Brighton Bomb/The Hunt for the Bomber Eps. The Brighton Bomb
Production Company	BBC
Producer	Sandy Smith
Director
Writer
Film/VT Editor	Damian Leask
Archive Researcher (s)	Stuart Robertson
Top Sources of Footage	BBC Motion Gallery
	ITN Archive
	Sussex Police


Duration	60 minutes x 2 episodes
First Shown	BBC1, 14/09/2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	This was a one hour documentary reconstructing the attempted assassination of Margaret Thatcher and his cabinet at Brighton in 1984. Archive footage was interspersed with interviews by Peter Taylor with most of the surviving principal characters and dramatic reconstructions of the explosion and rescue. It was followed on the same night by an interview with Patrick Magee, the man who planted the bomb in the Grand Hotel. Together they were described by The Observer as “two of the year’s finest documentaries. Superlative, shocking.”
Reasons for Submission	Stuart Robertson played a vital role in the programme and was an ideal choice because of his years of experience working on programmes relating to the Troubles notably Provos, Brits and Loyalists. His challenge was to find footage that would shed new light on a story already familiar to viewers. Refusing to take at face value the belief that ITN’s rushes had been lost Stuart visited its archives and located the key tapes in a basement. These original camera tapes were suffering from severe dropout and the footage had to be painstakingly repared by the production. This was typical of Stuart’s dogged determination and attention to detail. The production team also discovered and retrieved two hours of completely unknown footage shot by a Sussex Police video operator in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. This provided a unique insight into the bomb scene and the clear up operation.

Cited Work	Giuliani Time
Production Company	K Video Productions
Producer	Williams Cole
Director	Kevin Keating
Film/VT Editor	Peter Tooke
Archive Researcher (s)	Williams Cole
Top Sources of Footage	ABC VideoSource
	NBC News Archives
	ITN Archive
	CNN ImageSource
	BBC Motion Gallery
Duration	130 minutes
First Shown	Magno Sound, NYC 31/08/2004
Country of Origin	USA
Synopsis	Ever since the events of 9/11 Rudy Giuliani has become a name recognized the world over. But what defined 'America’s Mayor' before he was catapulted to a secular sainthood? Giuliani Time investigates the stories behind the 'new' New York City that Giuliani laid claim to. From 'quality of life' policing to welfare reform and First Amendment-related debacles, the feelings about the Giuliani years largely depended on where you stood. Giuliani Time is a wild ride of political ambition and public amnesia, alternate realities, wars of perception and dramatic, even cataclysmic, events. of the World.' It is a wild ride of political ambition and public amnesia, alternate realities, wars of perception and dramatic, even cataclysmic, events.
Reasons for Submission	Giuliani Time is a feature length documentary that is largely dependent on the use of a wide array of archival footage. It took many years of intensive research to collect more than 200 hours of archival screening cassettes and find just the right moments to illustrate the narrative. Giuliani Time does not utilize an omniscient narrator. Rather, much like the fine cutting of interviews to create an analytical narrative, the use of archival footage and interviews was essential in order to create, not just visually illustrate, the narrative. In this way, much of the film is a compilation, but a compilation with a strong story line and critique. Giuliani Time not only uses material culled from news archives but also utilizes historical material, home movie footage and footage shot by a variety of amateurs and independent archives. Essentially, the film would have been impossible without the accessible array of footage sources that we were able to access. Footage is history no matter if it was half a century ago or just yesterday. Giuliani Time realizes how archival footage can be used not only to represent and recap. But, more importantly, we feel the film shows how archive can be used to create an analytical narrative where the footage is key.

Cited Work	Band Aid 20: Justice, Not Charity
Production Company	Endemol UK
Producer	Malcolm Gerrie, Phil Mount & Chris Wilson
Director	Geoff Wonfor
Writer
Film/VT Editor
Archive Researcher (s)
Top Sources of Footage




Duration	60 minutes
First Shown	BBC1, 6/12/2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	Twenty years after Band Aid's historic first release, written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, this one hour special for BBC One went behind the scenes of the new recording, which took place at Air Studios on Sunday 14th November 2004
Reasons for Submission	Archive footage played a vital part in updating this story.

Cited Work	Explorations TV Series 2 Eps. First Impressions
Production Company	Broadcast Marketing
Producer	Stefan Wickham
Director	Matthew Catling
Writer	Subniv Babuta
Film/VT Editor	Dan Crouch
Archive Researcher (s)	Chantal Baxter
Top Sources of Footage	BBC Motion Gallery




Duration	24 minutes
First Shown	National Geographic & BC World, Sept 2004
Country of Origin	UK
Synopsis	Surprisingly, the very first impression we make on other people often has nothing to do with our faces – or our figures. It’s the way we move. Good movers are sexy because they come across as fit and healthy - likely to have good genes. We are also programmed to recognise beauty in facial symmetry - another indicator of healthy genes. Incredibly the symmetry of women’s faces changes subtly over their monthly cycle - at their most fertile, they are also at their most symmetrical. And even more astonishing, at their most fertile, women prefer different types of men!
Reasons for Submission	This is a unique example of a sponsor-funded programme that still has a real current affairs impact. The series aims to bring new scientific research to life and by using BBC archive footage of societies across the world it provides fascinating viewing.

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