Senna dominated yesterday’s ninth annual Focal International Awards, which celebrate the use of archive footage.

The documentary about the Formula One driver picked up gongs for Best Use of Sports Footage and Best Use of Footage in a Cinema Release. The film’s research team was also given a Special Award.

Focal International chair Sue Malden said: “This year’s entries were very special indeed. With more than 180 submissions from 18 countries the judges had a difficult task on their hands.

“The winners – from the UK, USA, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands - all demonstrated outstanding use of archive material, and highlighted the importance of preserving film in order to remind us of our collective history.

“We thank our sponsors, organisers and nominees for making this year’s event so inspiring and enjoyable.”

The full list of nominees and winners (in bold):

Best Use of Footage in a Factual Production:

(Due to the overwhelming number of submissions in the Factual category, three separate awards of equal standing are awarded annually in this category)
• Blacks of France From 1889 to today (Noirs de France) - Compagnie Phares et Balises (France)
• Entertaining the Troops - BBC Entertainment (UK)
• The Loving Story - Augusta Films, LLC (USA)
•9/11 Emergency Room - Testimony Films (UK)
•Bernadette: notes on a political journey - Digital Quilts (Ireland)
•Lost and Found: Nazi Wolframite - SIC - Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (Portugal)
•POV: My Perestroika - Red Square Productions (USA)
•The Boy Who Was a King – Agitprop (Bulgaria)
•Timeshift: All the Fun of the Fair – BBC (UK)

Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment or Drama Production:

• Night on Film: An A-Z of the Dark - BBC Entertainment (UK)
•The Story of Variety with Michael Grade - BBC Entertainment (UK)
•The Toys That Made Christmas - BBC Entertainment (UK)

Best Use of Footage in an Arts Production:

The Camera That Changed the World - Lambent Productions (UK)
•Eames: The Architect and the Painter - Bread and Butter Films & Quest Productions (USA)
•Hollywood Invasion - NBC Universal Global Networks Italia (Italy)

Best Use of Footage in an Arts Productionfeaturing Music:

Harry Belafonte - Sing your Song - S2BN Belafonte Production (USA)
•Queen - Days of Our Lives - Globe Productions (UK)
•The Godmother of Rock & Roll - Antelope South Limited (UK)

Best Use of Wildlife and Natural History Footage:

Broken Tail - Crossing the Line Films (Ireland)
•Brutal Killers - The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Netherlands)
•Deadly 360 - BBC Natural History Unit (UK)

Best Use of Sports Footage:

  • Senna - Working Title/Universal Pictures (UK)
  • Mighty Jerome - National Film Board of Canada – NFB (Canada)
  • The Bert Trautmann Story - Testimony Films (UK)

    Best Use of Footage in a Short Production:
    Liquidator - EYE Film Institute (Netherlands)
    •Save The Children ‘No Child Born to Die’ - STALKR (UK)
    •The Magic Loungeabout - Archive Oracle Productions (UK)

    Best Use of Footage in a Home Entertainment Release
    Rosie Newman’s Britain at War in Colour - Imperial War Museums Film Archive (UK)
    •Senna - Universal Pictures/Working Title (UK)
    •The Persuaders - The Complete Series – BBC/Network Distributing Ltd (UK)

    Best Use of Footage in a Cinema Release:
    Senna - Working Title/Universal Pictures (UK)
    •Queen - Days of Our Lives - Globe Productions (UK)
    •The Extraordinary Voyage - Steamboat Films (France)

    Best Archive Restoration / Preservation Project:
    Desmet Collection - EYE Film Institute/Haghefilm Laboratories (Netherlands)
    ITN Digital Archive - ITN Source/Deluxe 142 (UK)
    •Tales from the Shipyard (This Working Life) - BFI National Archive (UK)

    Best Archive Restoration / Preservation Title:
    A Trip to the Moon (1902) - colour version - Lobster Films / Technicolor Foundation for Film Heritage / Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema in association with Archives Françaises du Film and M. Malthête Méliès (France/USA)
    •Shoes (1916) - EYE Film Institute Netherlands/Haghefilm Conservation B.V. (Netherlands)
    •The Loves of Pharaoh (Das Weib des Pharao) (1921) - Alpha-Omega Digital, George Eastman House, Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv, Filmmuseum Munich, ARTE/ZDF (Germany/USA)

    The Jane Mercer Footage Researcher of the Year:
    • Denis Karam, Zig Zag Productions

    Footage Library Employee of the Year:
    •Paul McAllister – Screenocean

    •Obi Adumekwe, AP Archive
    •Serena Sharp, Clips & Footage
    •Eric Simon, Getty Images

    Footage Library of the Year:
    •British Pathé

    •AP Archive
    •Journeyman Pictures

    Special Award:
    •Footage Research Team – Senna (Working Title/Universal Pictures - UK)

    Lifetime Achievement:
    • Rick Prelinger