documentary researcher

Archive Researchers, The Right Footage

‘My Generation’ Brings the 60s Back in High Fidelity

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‘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…)

Archive Valley, The Right Footage

Archives and the Future of Documentary: Industry Insight from DocNYC

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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…)

Archive Researchers

Featuring: Sanja Göhre, Johannesburg

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Featuring: Sanja Göhre, Johannesburg

You studied journalism in South Africa and then social sciences in the UK. How did you end up working in photo research?

It was a natural progression really, as both journalism and my social sciences degree were heavily research-based and actually just strengthened my research skills and elevated the kind of research I do to another level.

My journalism degree taught me to have a healthy respect for the subjectivity of sources and information and an insight into archives and the treasures hidden within those hallowed walls. Cutting my teeth at Reuters News Agency early on in my career taught me two things in the main: not to fear approaching anybody for whatever information I need and making sure that that information was accurate. Two news editors there, one of them called Rex Merrifield, really inculcated a love for chasing down information, and the source of accurate information, so I was lucky to have got that training from them.  (more…)