For its 40th edition, this year’s Cinéma du Réel is bringing a fascinating retrospective on documentaries from 1968 in attempt to “deconstruct the mythology” surrounding this crucial moment in history. The year of 1968 stirred a lot of cultural and social uprising all around the world. One of the most powerful mediums reflecting those events of massive shifts in human society was cinema. Thanks to a number of young and bold artists today we have now not only a better understanding of that period but also in some of the cases extremely valuable sources of archives of the radical changes happening in places like Palestine, Mexico, Cuba, India, Eastern Europe. Rare and immediate depictions like those can sometimes prove to be unusual sources for archive footage. They can serve as a unique way cover very particular moments and places that made part of global historical processes and social movements. These are also films that can be regarded as a great proof for the powerful wave of creativity that swept a whole generation of filmmakers. In the words of the curator behind the selection, Federico Rossin: ”A social uprising always elicits on a revolution of artistic forms: we consider ’68 as the generator of the most radical and innovative documentary cinema”.
6 Ways to Optimize your Archive Footage Budget
Since creating Archive Valley we’ve spoken to hundreds of professional archive researchers as well as producers seeking to either use archive footage in their production for the first time, or to step up their archive research and footage licensing game for a particularly archive-heavy production. Budgeting is a clear concern for anyone seeking to produce unique content featuring archival material and one that can be difficult to navigate, especially for newcomers to this booming genre.
Here are six tips we’ve learned from speaking to archive researchers around the world to help you come in on budget and make it to picture lock with archive footage that brings your story to life. (more…)
‘My Generation’ Brings the 60s Back in High Fidelity
The ‘swinging sixties’ are back on the big screen in My Generation, a new documentary produced by Sir Michael Caine and Simon Fuller, and narrated by none other than Caine himself. One of the biggest archive-driven productions of the year, the film sets out to give viewers an immersive journey through the 1960s as lived by Caine – a decade that would revolutionize everything from pop culture to politics as we know them.
We had the chance to catch up with the film’s Archive Producer James Hunt – who is also a member of our international community of professional archive researchers – to learn more about what went into this epic homage to the Sixties. (more…)
Archives and the Future of Documentary: Industry Insight from DocNYC
From November 9th to 16th this year, the documentary industry converged on New York City for DocNYC, a festival dedicated to the documentary craft that the Wall Street Journal has recently called “an essential summit for all kinds of documentary filmmaking.” The Archive Valley team went to New York to meet with filmmakers – from documentary veterans to up-and-coming talent – and to take the pulse of the industry. This year’s edition and industry program was a great opportunity for discussion around archive-driven films, which featured prominently in the the past few editions. (more…)