‘A powerful documentary that has used the archive in a chilling way to foreshadow and tell this horror story’
72 Films for Netflix
Since the revelations about the crimes committed by Jimmy Savile emerged in 2012, there has been a wealth of documentaries exploring them, but none provides such an extensive overview as Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story.
Through a combination of exclusive interviews and archive footage spanning 60 years, the series offers a detailed examination of how his abuse was allowed to occur, providing viewers with more than just a character portrait of one of the most grotesque men in modern British history.
Key to the series’ success is its use of wider context to comment on the culture of the 1970s, in particular the endemic sexism that enabled Savile to be who he was. One judge said the film’s use of nostalgia and analysis of British life make it “more than just a true-crime doc”.
“It is not just a character study of Savile, but a cautionary tale of a man who was able to groom a nation – and how he did it. A true horror story, where fact is more shocking than fiction,” said another.
“A powerful documentary that has used the archive in a chilling way to foreshadow and tell this horror story,” was one judge’s summary of the series, while another praised its “compelling interviews and sinister tone, which give the viewer a real insight into what Savile was like”.
SHORTLISTED
Big Oil v The World
Mongoose/BBC for BBC
Big Oil v The World draws on more than 100 interviews with key players to reveal in forensic detail how the oil giants fuelled climate-change denial, despite warnings from their own scientists.
Curse Of The Chippendales
Lightbox for Amazon Prime Video
“A riveting story, with larger-than-life characters, that led me into a world and a time I know little of but found deeply fascinating,” said one of our judges. “What might seem like a relatively trivial story actually discusses big themes of money, power, sex and the dark side of the American dream.”
Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime
Blast! Films for Channel 4
Death On Daytime combines gripping storytelling with complex and emotional investigative work to highlight the abusive culture of one of Britain’s most popular daytime shows. It is described by one of our judges as a “powerful and harrowing exposé of what can go wrong in TV”.
Scam Land: Money, Mayhem And Maseratis
Forest for BBC
Mobeen Azhar goes deep inside the world of online scamming to uncover the truth about a supposed Instagram ‘forex trader’. Made by a diverse team from a wide range of backgrounds, the series combines old-school journalism with digital techniques to reveal a much larger story about ‘get-rich-quick’ scams.
We Are Black And British
Cardiff Productions & The Open University for BBC
We Are Black and British brings together six black Britons from various backgrounds to explore why the black community is often portrayed as a single, homogeneous group. “It’s guaranteed to make the viewer think,” said one judge.
Award sponsored by The Complete Camera Company
No comments yet