International recognition for Lincoln filmmaker

A leading filmmaker from the University of Lincoln has been shortlisted for a prestigious international award in recognition of his pioneering work to document the on-screen heritage of the Midlands. Andy McKay, Principal Lecturer in Media Production at the Lincoln School of Media, researched and produced Nottingham on Film 1920 -1980 as part of the Midlands on Film series. The DVD has now been named as a finalist in the category for ‘Best Use of Footage in a Home Entertainment Release’ at the FOCAL International Awards 2013.

The FOCAL International Awards are the world’s leading honours for the archive film industry, celebrating the best use of footage across all genres and media platforms. They recognise the researchers, technicians and producers that access, maintain and develop valuable historical resources.

Nottingham on Film 1920 -1980 is part of the Midlands on Film series, a collection of nine documentary films created in collaboration with the Media Archive for Central England (MACE). Media experts from the Lincoln School of Media drew on rare archive materials and never-before-seen footage to re-trace historical footprints and chart the history of the region.

The documentary film will go up against two others at the awards ceremony, to be hosted at the London Lancaster Hotel on Thursday 2nd May 2013. Another award contender within the same category, From Headlines to Tight-lines – The Story of ATV Today, was also produced by the team at MACE.

Andy McKay explained: “Nottingham on Film was the first completed DVD to come out of our two-year collaboration with MACE. The Midlands on Film series is designed to generate increased public engagement with the region’s precious media archive, and it is fantastic to be able to reach new audiences with historical film footage.

“It is a great honour to be recognised by the FOCAL International Awards, as creating the film was not just a case of reproducing existing collections. Nottingham on Film is the result of meticulous research, development, and editing, as I studied and selected from over 3,500 archive entries to arrive at the final edit.

“I also sourced original additional oral history sound recordings, and silent film sequences required many hours of historical research in order to write factually accurate narration and provide relevant soundscapes. This enabled us to incorporate important elements of design and an interactive interface within the film. Music was composed by Ronnie Fowler and narration spoken by Chris Hainstock, both colleagues from the Lincoln School of Media, and we are absolutely delighted with its success.”