Instant Dreams

"An extraordinary Polaroid trip."

Dec 14 2017 N/A 1h 31m
Documentary, Drama, Sci-Fi

There could hardly be a more telling contrast between the analog and digital eras than the beautifully blurry memories captured in a Polaroid picture and the thousands of pin-sharp photos on an iPhone. In this ambitious visual essay, Willem Baptist explores the visionary genius of Edwin H. Land, the inventor of the Polaroid camera. Even today, all sorts of people are keeping his instant dream alive. Former Polaroid employee Stephen Herchen moved from the United States to Europe to work in a laboratory developing the 2.0 version of Polaroid. Christopher Bonanos, the author of Instant: The Story of Polaroid, tells us, "When I heard Polaroid would stop making film, it felt like a close friend had died." Artist Stefanie Schneider, who is working with the last of her stock of Polaroid film, is using the blurring that occurs with expired film as an additional aesthetic layer in her photographic work.

Plot

Instant Dreams brings us into the lives of Polaroid enthusiasts to create a portrait of Dr. Edwin Land, a pioneer in American technology. When Polaroid announced the end of instant film in 2008, a small group of enthusiasts bought the last operational factory in the Netherlands. Although they have the factory, a house fire destroyed all of Dr. Land's private notes, including the chemical formula behind instant film. As a result, engineer Stephen Herchen is brought in to recreate the magic behind Polaroid. Despite all of their progress, their version of the instant film is still too slow to share with the world. Meanwhile, artist Stephanie Schneider stores her last remaining Polaroid stock in a refrigerator, using them for her work in the California desert. Her primary medium is instant film, and most of her stock expired years ago. In New York, Christopher Bonanos is also running out of the Polaroid stock he needs to document the growth of his son. As the author of 'Instant: The Story of Polaroid,' Christopher offers the audience a history of Dr. Land, the scientist and innovator at the heart of Polaroid's success. Director Willem Baptist interweaves the film with archival footage showing a man at the cutting edge of technology and the downfall of Polaroid at the turn of the digital revolution.

Written by

Willem Baptist

Directed by

Willem Baptist

Production Countries

Netherlands

Production Companies

Pieter van Huystee Film & TV, NTR

Languages

English

Awards

10 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
1,189
Average Rating
6.4 out of 10
Metascore
46
Popularity
NA