London, UK - 17th March 2017 - FOCAL International, the Federation of Commercial Audio-visual Libraries, today announced its shortlist for the fourteenth annual FOCAL International Awards, to be presented on 25th May 2017 at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel, hosted by Hardeep Singh Kohli, the British broadcaster, comedian and journalist. The FOCAL International Awards celebrate the best use of footage across all variety of genres and media platforms, as well as those who preserve, restore and ensure that archival footage remains a vital resource to the global production community.

 

Sixteen awards will be presented in total, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, won this year by pioneering producer-director, Serge Viallet. In a prolific career, Viallet's work demonstrates some of the most effective and imaginative uses of archive. This award honours his huge contribution behind the scenes and on the front-line of the screen industry.
 

This year's finalists have been drawn from a large, diverse and international pool of submissions, with particularly strong representation from the United States and Europe. As a result of receiving the largest ever number of submissions to the restoration/preservation category, FOCAL will be presenting two shortlists and winners on the night of the awards to showcase and celebrate the spectacular achievements of this field.
 

"This year's shortlist is a tribute to all the creative and dedicated practitioners using archival footage in the industry. From lesser-known gems that are receiving the recognition they deserve to many celebrated titles, we're delighted with the range and depth of content we have in this year's competition." said Madeline Bates, General Manager - Outreach.
 

The FOCAL International Awards also honour the work of archival researchers, footage archivists and film preservationists. The announcement for the finalists of the Library of the Year, Footage Employee of the Year, and the Jane Mercer Footage Researcher of the Year, will be made on Friday 24th March.
 

Tickets for the Gala Awards Ceremony 25th May are now on sale. Take advantage of our early bird rates available until 31st March and book a table here . 
 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Some award categories are still available for sponsorship. Please talk with MARY EGAN at FOCAL International - [email protected] +44 (0)20 3178 3535
 

FINAL NOMINATIONS - FOCAL INTERNATIONAL AWARDS:

Best Use of Footage in a History Production
* Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes - 1895 Films (USA)
* Hitler's Games - Berlin 1936 - Roche Productions (France)
* Tokyo Trial: Judging Japan - Point du Jour (France)
 

Best Use of Footage in a History Feature
* Letters From Baghdad - Letters From Baghdad Ltd / Between the Rivers Productions LLC (USA/UK/France) 
* School Revolution 1918-1939 - Les Films Du Poisson (France)
* The Tragedy of the International Brigades - Kuiv Productions (France)

Best Use of Footage in a Factual Production
* Asunder - Blanche Pictures (UK)
* Saddam Goes to Hollywood - Mentorn Scotland (UK)
* The War Show - Fridthjof Film (Denmark)

Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment Production
* How Quizzing Got Cool: Brains of Britain - BBC Studios (UK)
* Les Dawson Forever - ITV Studios / Shiver (UK)
* When Magic Goes Horribly Wrong - Crackit Productions (UK)
 

Best Use of Footage in an Arts Production
* Charles Pathe & Leon Gaumont, Reel Rivals of the Cinema - Program33 (France)
* Eat That Question - Frank Zappa in His Own Words - Les Films Du Poisson, UFA Fiction / Sony Pictures Classics (France/USA)
* Saddam Goes to Hollywood - Mentorn Scotland (UK)

Best Use of Footage in a Music Production
* The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years - White Horse Pictures and Imagine Entertainment (USA/UK)
* The People's History Of Pop - 7Wonder Productions (UK)
* Tom Jones' 1950s: The Decade that made me - BBC Music Television (UK)

Best Use of Sports Footage
* 1966: A Nation Remembers - Blakeway North Television (UK)
* George Best: All by Himself - Fine Point Films (UK)
* O.J: Made in America - ESPN Films and Laylow Films (USA)

Best use of Footage about the Natural World
* America's National Parks at 100 - Smithsonian Channel (USA)
* Into the Inferno - Spring Films and Werner Herzog Film (UK/Germany)
* Zoo Quest in Colour - BBC Natural History Unit (UK)

Best Use of Footage on Other Platforms
* Guinness Story Of John Hammond - Hazel May Ltd / AMV BBDO (UK)
* Lurpak 'Game On, Cooks' - The Director Studio / Wieden & Kennedy (UK)
* Terence Donovan: Speed of Light - Dog and Duck Films (UK)

Best Use of Footage in a Cinema Release
* Bobby Sands: 66 Days - Fine Point Films (UK)
* Eat That Question - Frank Zappa in His Own Words Les Films Du Poisson, UFA Fiction / Sony Pictures Classics (France/USA)
* The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years - White Horse Pictures and Imagine Entertainment (USA/UK)

 

Best Archive Restoration / Preservation Project
* 1912-1992: 80 Years of Olympic Films Restored - International Olympic Committee (Switzerland)
* Cinecolor Restorations of Canadian Pacific (1949) and The Cariboo Trail (1950) - TLEFilms Film Restoration & Preservation Services (Germany)
* Zoo Quest in Colour (1950s) - BBC Natural History Unit (UK)

Best Archive Restoration / Preservation Title
* Napoleon (1927 Dir. Abel Gance) - BFI National Archive (UK)
* King of Jazz (1930 Dir. John Murray Anderson) - NBCUniversal (USA)
* Memories of Underdevelopment (Memorias del Subdesarrollo) (1968 Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea) - The Film Foundation/Cineteca di Bologna/L'Immagine Ritrovata (Italy)

Lifetime Achievement Award  - A gift of the FOCAL International Executive
Serge Viallet
 

To see the CREDITS and SYNOPSES of the final nominations and the full list of the 199 submissions to the FOCAL International Awards please go  here.