It's not every day we have the chance to increase the number of factories making colour film by a third. At the moment, only Fuji, Kodak and Agfa can do so but Ferrania are now looking for our help to make it four.
Those of us who signed up to their email updates have just received an appeal for help for a new Kickstarter project which aims to raise $250,000 towards the purchase of three machines vital to the company's production of colour film.
The six-and-a-half minute video above explains the project in detail and there's also the Kickstarter project page here. Silverprint also have a new article here about the company's plans.
The machines, which the company cutely calls Trixie, Walter and Big Boy, are presently in the old Ferrania factory in northern Italy that is due to be demolished by the end of the year. Hence the urgency of the new Ferrania team to raise the cash necessary to rescue the much-needed equipment. The company has a capability to produce colour film but only in small amounts. Increasing the production capacity will enable the film to be sold at a lower price.
As I write this, a total of $87,099 has already been pledged by more than 1,600 backers towards the $250,000 target and there are 28 days still to go. The talk, so far, has been about colour film but it might be possible to produce some black and white material in future if the facilities are there and the demand exists.
Crucially, Ferrania are aiming to be completely self-contained so that they can continue to make film regardless of what happens to other film manufacturing companies. Trixie, Walter and Big Boy would be housed, along with existing machinery owned by the company, in a low-cost, medium-sized plant tailor-made for the medium-scale production that today's market demands.
If you value film - even if you don't use colour - please think about contributing to this Kickstarter project. And also do what you can to spread the word about Ferrania on social media. From the initial response to the Kickstarter appeal, it would seem to me that the target is entirely reachable - but only if we all chip in! So come on!
Ferrania Facebook
Ferrania Website
Ferrania Twitter (@filmferrania)
Me too.
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