Italian film producer FILM Ferrania appears to planning the release two long-discontinued black-and-white films.
A post on the film brand’s Instagram channel on Saturday (4 November) mentioned the new films while unveiling a open day at the FILM Ferrania factory to take place this December.
The post reads: “Explore Ferrania’s extraordinary legacy in film and photography, from yesterday to today. Attend the Open Day on 2 December 2023 at the Ferrania Film Museum and modern production facilities.
The post says: “Discover the past, present and future of Ferrania, with exclusive previews of the new P33 and P36 films. A unique cultural and scientific experience, with the possibility of testing the P30 in the field. Event organized in collaboration with Punto Foto Group @punto_foto_group, FILM Ferrania, Ferrania Film Museum and TrattoPunto @trattopunto.industrialtourism. Closed event, sign up now!”
P33 and P36 were cinema stocks related to p30, the 80-ISO high-contrast film the company brought back into production in 2019.
P33 was an ISO 160 panchromatic film which was previously available in 120 format.
The release of the two films has been FILM Ferrania’s intention for some years. In 2017, FILM Ferrania answered community questions via film photography website Emulsive. In reply to the question of the company following up P30 with a higher-Iso black-and-white film, the team said: “We do already have plans (but plans only) to produce P30’s “cousins” from the past – P33 which is 160 ISO and P36 which is 320 ISO. They will share many aspects with P30, among them the high silver content, however at higher speeds, it’s likely that the grain will be more pronounced.
“We also plan to make all products in all formats (with few exceptions), so yes, you would eventually see P33 and P36 in large formats. “Viability” will be determined by the market alone, because it’s a non-issue from a technical perspective.”
FILM Ferrania emerged from the ashes of the original Ferrania film factory, which stopped producing film in 2009. After a successful Kickstarter in 2013, the team behind FILM Ferrania managed to save the original factory’s research plant, which included all the machinery needed to produce film again.
The team originally wanted to restart production of colour slide film – which Ferrania used to produce under the Scotch and Imation brands – but have not yet been able to restart production.
In the meantime, FILM Ferrania has concentrated on black-and-white films, adding the orthochromatic Orto film earlier this year.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
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