We have prepared for you a short selection of films from this year’s edition of HotDocs that we expect to showcase some of the best work in the field of archive research in 2018. With the full line-up published, it was easy to spot the productions that rely on the meticulous research of both personal and external archive sources. Some of the productions will have their World/North American premieres making the festival a truly special moment for the filmmakers and researchers behind them. The selected films come from very different places, periods, each with a unique personal narrative making a great complete watching experience if you want to see all of them (something that we definitely will).
archive film
Featuring: Matthew Sanger, London
You have been an archive researcher for many projects since the late 90s. How did you become an archive researcher, and what has been your favorite project so far?
I became an archive researcher quite by accident – I was working with a production company in 1996 logging rushes for a BBC series about the Prohibition era and the director/producer asked if I could also source, log and license the stills for the series. After that I worked as a stills researcher on a few other productions and also ventured into researching archive footage. I have always been a film buff so it seemed a natural vocation rather than an accidental career move. It’s difficult to give a favorite project as I’ve worked on so many – so here’s a few of the most memorable – working on three series of the cult Channel 4 series –Eurotrash was fun and an eye-opener, Jonathan Ross’ BBC3 series – Japanorama about Japanese popular culture was fascinating. (more…)