Woodcut Media and Woodcut International have presold two new documentaries to Channel 4: Hitler’s Games: Berlin 1936 in Colour and The Space Race in Colour. Currently in production, the projects use archive restoration, colourisation, expert analysis and eyewitness testimony to revisit major historical events.
Hitler’s Games: Berlin 1936 in Colour (1x60’) explores the 1936 Olympic Games, including Jesse Owens’ record-breaking performances, while examining how the Nazi regime used the event for propaganda purposes.
The Space Race in Colour (2x60’) follows the Cold War competition between the US and USSR, from the first satellites to the Apollo Moon landings, and explores the political and military tensions behind the race for space supremacy.
Jonathan Mayo produces both titles, with Kate Beal executive producing. Tom Adams also executive produces The Space Race in Colour. Mayo said: “Whether capturing the technological feats of the Space Race or the political theatre of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, the colourisation of the archive reveals these defining moments as living, human stories rather than distant historical events.”
Koulla Anastasi, managing director at Woodcut International, added: “Our franchise is going from strength-to-strength, we feel the colourisation, unique access and techniques employed to tell these stories, speaks to powerful historical accounts with contemporary relevance and global appeal.”
The docs join Woodcut’s growing in colour catalogue, which includes Titanic in Colour, The Race for Ancient Egypt in Colour, Britain’s Railway Empire in Colour and The Manhattan Project in Colour.
Woodcut Grows In Colour Slate with Channel 4 Docs
