“Land’s instant film is the world’s most chemically complex completely manmade product ever.”
Instant Dreams immerses us in the saturated color universe of the Polaroid and tells the story of a group of scientists trying to unravel the chemical formula of Polaroid and those who are eagerly awaiting the rebirth of this so recognizable photo.
With his documentary, Willem Baptist looks at the present, to enhance the processes of the past to create those of the future… Instant Dreams is a documentary that will awaken the creative fiber of any artist. And a movie that leads us to realize that Apple did not invent anything with the iPhone…
One of the great mysteries of this world
Did you know that the formula for making these instant square photos was very complex? I’m not talking about photos that we do on Instagram. No. Rather Polaroid that we did especially in the 90s.
But what I just learned, thanks to Instant Dreams, is that the formula for making these snapshots is dead with its creator, Edwin H. Land. Scientists find themselves, in 2019, trying to discover the exact mix that can create with these cameras that are no longer made.
Some incredible characters
In Baptist’s documentary, we meet eccentric characters, fascinated and in love. We discover, for example, an artist who stores his last boxes of instant paper in the fridge of her caravan in order to continue as long as possible to create with her favorite machine; a chemist who left his country and his wife to unravel the lost formula of the precious photo emulsion; and an inventor who works in a development lab of the 2.0 version of the Polaroid…
All these people have one thing in common: an unwavering love for Polaroid photography. At first, each of them seems a little… crazy, strange. But, the more we progress in the universe offered by the director, the more we understand these people and we want to know more about them.
Inspiration
Personally, Instant Dreams gave me a crazy desire to create. An uncontrollable urge to take my camera, or my photo camera, and create, again and again. To put new material on my website where I offer my creations to the public… I take this opportunity to invite you to visit it. 🙂
I believe that any artist or creator will feel the same way by watching this documentary. Not only is Marc Lizier’s music captivating, but through personal stories, we discover a wealth of information about Polaroid photography. A great way to learn without noticing it!
But still…
Instant Dreams returns to the origins of the invention of Dr. Edwin H. Land, in 1947, and offers us a real visual and temporal journey. With a rhythmic editing that transports us from one end of the world to the other – in the middle of the Californian desert and in the streets of Tokyo – the question of the instantaneousness of the image is materialized: the Polaroid in its infancy marks the beginning of the change in our relationship to the image that we will eventually see coming through the iPhone.
Rating: 8/10
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Watch the trailer:
