All language subtitles for An Impossible Project English SPANISH

Dear viewer,

yes, you are spending too
many hours on your smartphone

and on YouTube, Instagram
and deep down, you hate it.

You keep saying you want
to do something about it.

Sure, we all do.

This film is about
an alternative,

going the other
way, digital detox.

If you like what you see
here, do try it at home.

♪ I'm a fool to want you ♪

♪ I'm a fool to want you ♪

♪ To want a love
that can be true ♪

Today, the Eastman Kodak Company

used explosives to
demolish two buildings

following the move to
digital photography.

Once a household name,

Kodak is understood

to have demolished more than
80 buildings on the site

over the past 10 years

and plans to demolish at
least 16 more by years end.

Polaroid has closed factories

in Massachusetts, Mexico
and the Netherlands.

Job cuts include 150
positions to be eliminated

over the next couple of months.

With a further 300
workers laid off in Mexico

and in the company's
headquarters

in Enschede in the Netherlands.

Today, we're introducing
an iPod, a phone

and an internet communicator.

This is one device.

And we are calling it iPhone.

The smartphone
changed everything

when it came to photography.

We take more photos now
than any time before.

This is analog camera sales

and they kind of peak in '99

and then they start falling

'cause digital
cameras get invented.

And then digital takes
a huge step forward.

There's more people taking
photos than ever before

'cause more cameras
are out there.

And then they fall, too.

And they fall because
the smartphone gets there

and the smartphone
really changes the game.

♪ There will come a time ♪

♪ When I will leave you ♪

Analog was truly dead.

Film, records, books, letters,
outdated, obsolete, gone.

Iconic companies
were disappearing.

Our future was digital,
easy, convenient, free.

A brave new world was out
there and we couldn't wait.

Or could we?

In Vienna, I met
a man who thought,

this is all a big mistake.

This is his impossible story.

Whoa.

Vienna is the most
analog city in the world

and this place we created,

we wanted to bring
all the machines

and all these magic
treasures together,

new generation, old generation.

So people, customers,

and most importantly also
investors can feel it.

They cannot see it in
a PDF or in whatever.

So one of our main weapons

to really destroy any concerns
of investors is this machine.

It looks pretty ugly.

It's this Spanish style but

when you select
your favorite vinyls

and then you already
hear a magic sound.

Investor's gonna cry,

stand in line
outside here and say,

"Take my money, please."

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

Shit.

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ 'Cause I need it slow ♪

♪ And I need it ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow ♪

♪ 'Cause I need it slow ♪

♪ And I need it now ♪

Doc, who is the Doc?

Why are you Doc?

Where does the Doc come from?

Yeah, somehow the
Doc is a leftover

from my scientific studies.

It was very easy.

My parents didn't put
any pressure on me.

They just said, "Whatever you
do, be the best doing it."

So, pretty soon I found out

that the only chance for myself

being the best doing something

is if I do things that
nobody else is doing.

So I am the world's
most important

spider eye muscle expert.

My father always asked me,
"What is this all for?"

And so basically the Doc is the
only outcome from back then.

So this title I
carried on since then.

I always tried to look
at things differently.

When everybody was
running in this direction,

I thought, hey, maybe it's cool

to look in the other direction.

60 centimeters.

Oh yeah, that's good,
it start blinking.

Again without
mineral, good sign.

10 years ago, Doc
had found a new calling.

While we were all salivating
over our first iPhone,

Doc decided to resist.

He became the self-appointed

patron saint of
all things analog.

Step one, he set up a venture
selling expired Polaroid film.

It was called Unsalable.

My theory is that the
biggest difference

between digital and analog

is the fact that digital

always just tickles
two of your senses.

It's always I can see
it, I can hear it,

but it's always behind
the glass screen.

So I cannot really touch it,

I cannot smell it,

I cannot lick it.

So it only, you know,
it's nothing real.

And therefore the young generation, who
grew up digitally,

there's so much longing
for this real thing

they can touch, caress,
hold in their hand,

that they can fully sense.

It was the beginning

of an unlikely
business adventure.

You know,

I often tell stories that

are not 100% true,

but this one really
is 150% true.

Do you have your
Polaroid Colorpack Camera?

In the '70s and '80s,
Polaroid was everywhere.

And even today, we all recognize
that classic white frame

of a Polaroid instant photo.

But in 2008, the cultural icon

was a mere shadow
of its former self.

No one believed analog
photography had a future

and all Polaroid factories
were being closed down.

All but this last one in
Enschede in The Netherlands.

Once churning out
millions of packs of film,

it was about to vanish.

♪ I feel the breeze ♪

♪ I feel the breeze ♪

♪ Take me on your boat one day ♪

♪ We'll fade away
and slip away ♪

♪ We'll go away with me ♪

♪ We'll stay away ♪

Doc had been invited
to the closing party.

He couldn't resist.

He knew little
about film chemistry

and even less about
running a business,

but he had a vision.

This factory must be rescued.

It was beautiful and important.

What everyone else saw,
"Doc, that's impossible."

My wife said, "Don't go
there, give up on it."

But I went there and
you know, the machines,

all of them were still
in perfect shape.

So I said, "There
is still a chance.

We have to try it."

So I went to the
Polaroid management say,

"Do you really want to kill it

or do you want to
give it for adoption

and you know, we
take care of it?"

So when Florian
came in and said,

"I want to buy this film factory
in Enschede, Netherlands,

don't wind it down",

to the owners of
Polaroid corporation,

it was a no-brainer to say,

"Sure, if you want
to take it over,

it saves our wind down costs."

The crazy thing is they
said, "You have one week.

We have an agreed scrap
value of the factory parts

for 180,000 Euro.

So if you sign the agreement

and transfer me
the 180,000 Euro,

the factory is yours."

So that was it.

I didn't have the 180,000 Euro,

but I immediately
started to make

something like a business plan.

They loved the business plan.

Business plans was for
sure, one of my best,

my best specialties.

With a small group of friends,

Doc bought the business.

They were going to
keep Polaroid alive.

It sounded crazy.

A 1940's tech for
the 21st century?

♪ Like a broken sail ♪

♪ But I'll never give you up ♪

♪ If I ever give you up ♪

♪ My heart will surely ♪

One of the many snags,

Doc wasn't allowed to use
the brand name Polaroid

but he soon found a new one.

It was really literally
during a meeting with Polaroid

where they continued to tell me,

"This is impossible.

This is impossible.

This is impossible."

So it was just,

I gave up and said, "Yeah,
let's call it Impossible."

So Polaroid was reborn
as The Impossible Project

which would prove an
interesting choice of name.

Nevermind, the
beginning was fabulous.

Life was returning
to the factory.

♪ You can swing ♪

♪ You can fail ♪

♪ You can blow my mind ♪

In the beginning,

we started with 10
people at the factory.

It was really a hard year.

Everybody thought
that it was impossible

to get it all running

and now, well here we are.

Something already created
before I was born.

That's amazing.

And I am creating it now daily.

That's wonderful.

Doc took Impossible headquarters

to Europe's startup
capital Berlin,

where he found a team
of well digital natives

who shared his belief
in the magic of analog

or at least succumbed to
his unrelenting enthusiasm.

I would love to say
that all of this

was part of a very
clever strategy

based on my extended
studies in business.

It's not quite
true to be honest.

Basically it just happened.

This wasn't nostalgia.

This was about rediscovering
the value of real things,

authenticity.

A good way to just look

and in order to understand
why Impossible exists

let's go back into the year 1946

when a guy called Edwin Land,

who was an incredible
inventor and visionary,

thought about the beginning
of instant photography.

I look forward to the dream

of being able to take a
wallet out of my pocket

and perhaps open the wallet,

press a button, close the wallet

and have the picture.

Grand machines for
a grand purpose.

♪ Express yourself ♪

♪ Express yourself ♪

♪ You don't never need help ♪

♪ From nobody else ♪

♪ All you gotta do now ♪

♪ Express yourself ♪

♪ Whatever you do ♪

♪ Do it good ♪

From the beginning, it was clear

that this is a magic material.

It's not a clone.

You cannot print it 500 times

with the right iconic frame.

It was one of no other kind.

Back in the days,

instant photography and
Polaroid was everywhere.

♪ Some people have everything ♪

♪ And other people don't ♪

♪ But everything
don't mean a thing ♪

♪ If it ain't the
thing you want ♪

♪ Express yourself ♪

♪ Express yourself ♪

♪ Oh do it ♪

♪ Oh do it ♪

♪ Do it too ♪

Good morning everyone
from Impossible.

We are now on our
way to Enschede

to the film factory.

We are twins.

Am I doing the
talking all alone?

No I can do it.

The fascination of
a lost technology

and the big challenge
to bring it back.

And he told me about this
thing, you know, called sX70

Fucking crazy.

And he was like, "You know
it, you know it, you know it,

it's so cool."

I've never been to
the factory before

so it's super new
experience for me.

Doc saved the
factory from closure

and kept all the
sort of old machines

and had to look at
the reformulation

of the new films for Impossible.

Oh look at this.

Everything's painted.

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

This is incredible.

Hi.

Hello.

Oh, the godfather
of camera repair.

This is like heaven.

Oh Betsy.

She missed me, you know?

If only there
weren't the problem

with the Polaroid formula.

It was tragic.

Doc had bought the factory.

He got the machines
back from scrap metal

and persuaded the
workers to return.

But then they discovered

that the formula to actually
produce Polaroid film

had been lost forever

because the chemicals
didn't exist anymore.

Instant film

is the world's most
chemically complicated

man-made product ever.

There's never been a
completely manmade product

that is more chemically
complicated than that.

Doc and his team

were continuing to
make instant film,

but their product
was, well, awful.

Colors were all over the place,

bits of the image
would disappear

and a photo took 45
minutes to develop.

It wasn't pretty.

Oh my God.

You know, we had
this killer crystals

and we had leaky pods

and we had pictures
disappearing.

I don't understand,

the film worked
or it didn't work?

Of course it worked.

It was perfect,

but you know in a
very special way.

Well, yeah, I mean
there was many skeptics.

We had a lot of people that
we were still talking to

who were long-time
Polaroid veterans

and they all said that
it'll never happen.

There's no way.

Oh my God.

This is an innovative product

'cause the images disappear.

This is, you know, one
of the very first images

and everybody was super excited

that we get any result at all.

But it was also the
beginning of us understanding

that there are a lot of
challenges in front of us.

Nevertheless, we said,
"Please support us

and go on this journey with us.

We don't want to fuck you

but this is an adventure
and this is what we can do."

When he first launched
the first film,

we analyzed it and
it was terrible.

I mean it really was.

The images looked like ghosts

and these weren't
of good quality.

And so it was
disappointing to us.

We were really hoping
it would be great.

But I think Florian
didn't realize

just how complicated it was.

There were two customers
in the beginning.

The one said,

"Ooh, yeah it was nice
before it disappeared."

And the other one said,

"Call me when you
really make film."

It would take them years

to reinvent the formula.

But Doc wasn't going
to be stopped easily.

He traveled the world

in search of fellow
believers and converts

and there was some good news.

Doc could see signs
of analog coming back.

In New York,
advertising billboards

were again being hand painted.

Impossible wasn't alone.

We're on the 22nd floor of
the Sherry-Netherland Hotel.

This is the famous GM building.

Rockefeller Center is that way.

And Apple, iconic Fifth
Avenue Apple store

rebuilding their glass cue.

They're making it bigger.

They're making it bigger.

Doc's been a hero

because I've followed
The Impossible Project

since it was truly impossible

and bought the very
earliest Impossible film.

So I thought, well,
I'll write this guy,

he's iconic in the field

and see if he
responds, and you did.

So we had the digital
Skype conversation and-

Then we changed to analog.

And then we changed to analog.

I love collecting art

and I love the intersection
of art and technology

and there is an intense beauty

I think that that
has been incorporated

in the design of
analog products.

This is a famous phone by AT&T

from the '60s and '70s
called the Touch-a-matic.

And so

That's the outside line.

I have a message.

Just so intensely beautiful
in the way its designed.

And look at the way the
speaker phone is designed.

It's very cool.

So these are the
incoming outside lines

that are punched down
on the punch down block.

These are line cards.

And so when I go off hook,

then if I put it on hold,

you can hear the interruption.

It cycles through mechanically

and it's very reliable.

I mean these things were
really engineered well.

I have my housekeeper here.

I've got the package
room, et cetera,

and you can program in all
these different numbers.

And so if you call.

Housekeeping, good
afternoon, Shelly speaking.

Oh hi Shelly.

Wrong number, sorry.

There you go.

Why do this, David?

Well, I wanted to make
telephone calls so.

I mean it's connected to the
outside world and it's ready.

The Impossible Project,

this was the good luck

that all of these machines
worked somehow like this.

So if something breaks,
you still can exchange it

and you can understand it.

It's not a black box.

So I think this is very similar

because it's much easier

than all this hidden
technology that we have today.

Renaissance, okay
Oskar, here we go.

And I'll say from David and Doc.

Great.

Put a few stamps on here

And then we're just
gonna send this off.

People were starting to get it.

Analog was a decision,

to keep something and to use it,

a choice each of us can make.

Right, right.

Yes.

Okay.

Look at me.

Okay, that way.

Hold and hold and stay.

What's the camera we're using?

You're using an
Aeroflex 35 SL camera,

probably one of the most
sophisticated sync sound cameras

in the world.

It's a fairly lightweight
handheld camera

and we've had
quite a few of them

and they're still
being used today.

It's a 35 millimeter
film camera.

It's film, it's incredible.

You know, we love film.

Isn't film meant to be dead?

Well, film is actually not dead.

You have a nice
clean frame and cut.

You can use it as a cut
and everything, okay.

It's beautiful, beautiful.

Now we're walking into,

this is the safe room.

This is where all the gold is.

It's not gold, it's like lenses.

They're so expensive.

They're like gold
and we love them.

And here they are, there
are all these lenses.

They're worth a lot of
money, a lot of money.

I would have to sell my house
just to buy this, you know?

♪ For I was born to glory ♪

♪ You kiss forever more ♪

The Impossible
Project expanded to New York.

Whether it's instant
photography or film,

it's a rebellion against
technology making things

too easy or too quick.

You have a lot of
things with customers

where things don't
work out with the film.

You know, I remember
having people saying,

"Hey, my wedding was a disaster.

The film didn't work."

Of course, it's
pretty upsetting,

but it's one of the things
you have to factor in

with that kind of
unpredictable media.

Sure, we could all
be making iPhone apps

but to what end?

Over time, I really
had to ask myself

why I was working for
The Impossible Project.

You know, I really
came up with this idea

that human beings, we're analog.

And I think that's
part of the reason

why we gravitate towards
analog things still,

even though we're in
this very digital realm.

Do you think
this enthusiasm for analog,

do you think it
is a passing stage

or it is something
that is here to stay?

You know, I really think that
this is just the beginning

of a very huge
rediscovery of analog

across all forms of media.

I have the very good feeling

that because of the
digital acceleration,

they are really looking
for a digital detox.

Oh my God, I love that.

I really like that one.

How does that even happen?

It sometimes does it.

I think it's from the chemicals.

That's crazy,

like it looks a bit
like it's burned.

Sometimes it's annoying

but mostly it really makes
sense that it happens

and you're like, wow, okay
that makes it even better.

It's so trippy

but it balances the
picture at the same time.

Is Impossible the business?

Absolutely.

I'm very happy
that you didn't ask

if it's a sustainable business
or a profitable business.

Well that's what I meant.

Not yet.

We are still at
the very beginning.

This is suddenly
the wonderful thing

about what we are doing.

You know everybody wants to
leave some traces in this world.

If people don't use
analog materials

then they will go away.

So you want to sort
of promote the fact

that it's out there,
that it's good.

It's different and it's special.

It's experiencing the real

and not the image
of something real.

So many digital products
feel a little bit similar,

so bright and the
color's so good

from even every amateur.

People crave something
that's a little weird,

a little wrong almost.

I'm talking
about a little weird.

I should think that's the
moment to take a weird picture.

Am I in this?

You're in this.

We're made of chemistry.

Film is made of chemistry.

When I see an
image shot on film,

I feel an affinity for it

that I simply have
not been able to feel

towards digital images.

Photography wise,

it's not just about the
perfection of the material.

It's about the emotion
you connect with it.

Even the people hate it,

that there's chemistry
that they have this stuff.

Oh are you kidding?

It's a mess, but come
on, it's the best.

Exactly, nowadays
it is the best.

You know, when I was
working on the book I wrote,

I cannot tell you how
many people told me

the smell of the
reagent on the negative

took them to their childhood

or to some sexy time
they'd had with Polaroid

or to their grandparents' house.

Smells are evocative.

It's not that I
think digital is bad.

In fact, I think the argument
about film versus digital

is really old,
it's kind of done.

For me, it's keeping
a choice alive.

For technology to
eliminate something

simply because it's more convenient is
really shortsighted.

I want to look at the long-term.

I want to make sure that
people can still use film

long after I'm gone.

Doc's project
had taken a first call.

The film was it at last

at least beginning to
look like Polaroid.

A photo now took only
30 minutes to develop.

It was a kind of a
honeymoon period.

If you looked closely, however,

you might've seen some dark
clouds forming on the horizon.

The photos were
cool but expensive

and notoriously
difficult to handle.

It was then that I
got to know Oskar,

a young engineer from New York.

Oskar was fascinated
by instant film

and he saw a future for
Impossible in the digital world.

He was soon to become a
key player on the team.

I'm Oskar Smolokowski.

I'm left camera right now.

Oskar was only 22
when he joined Doc in Europe

with the intention of learning
the business from the boss.

Can you imagine?

I came into the job thinking,

okay, I'm gonna learn from a CEO

on how it's supposed to be done.

The part I remember about
my first day at work

when we went on a
ride on his motorcycle

to eat at his
favorite sushi place.

And to be honest, I was
like, what the fuck?

I can't believe this is
how you run a company.

It's not been boring.

You could see this

at the World's
Largest Photo Fair.

In 2014, Impossible
was still regarded

as a charming analog outpost,

but theirs was
the busiest stand.

This was where young people went

and it was young people

who were at the
heart of the company.

I was 23 when I went to the
store for the first time.

You had lines of old Polaroid
cameras across all the walls.

You know, it definitely
had a magic to it

and this kind of
retro magic to it.

So I picked up an
old Polaroid camera

and that was my first
experience with it.

You know, the first shots were
all on old Polaroid cameras.

And actually today they are
still only old Polaroid cameras.

But when you kind of get
introduced through it that way

it does have this very
retro thing to it.

But the more you play
with it and you use it,

it's less about the
retro aspect of it

and more about the experience

of actually holding
a photograph,

letting it develop in your hand,

which is of course
an analog process,

but it's more about
the experience of it.

I think both Doc and myself,

we really loved the product

and we wanted to
bring it to people.

And for me, it was
always the challenge

of how do we make this
business sustainable?

How do we give this a future?

How do we kind of pay the bills,

keep the lights on and keep
everybody employed year by year?

And we have this giant factory

and to make that sustainable,

we needed to bring the
volume of the film up.

And to do that,
we needed to bring

the quality of the film
up and the prices down.

And I think that's where
the biggest difference was

between myself and Doc.

He really believed
that the film we had,

this imperfect one,

people would fall
in love with it

the way he fell in love with it.

You know, when the company
started Florian famously said,

"Anything you make in
the factory, I'll sell."

Like that's not a product
people want, you know?

People want instant analog film

that develops quickly
and looks great

and that's what we
want to give them.

♪ Without you ♪

Impossible to me was
definitely heart over mind.

Like with a lot of stuff
that comes at you in life,

you do it because
it feels right.

And that was definitely
the case here.

I felt the need to
explore further,

to connect to the
project in some way,

to talk to Doc and
see if I could help.

I always knew that I wanted
to do something with products

but at Impossible, I really
figured out what that means.

And it really means, you know,

putting two years of your life

into something
that's gonna launch,

endless hours
tweaking the details

and the millions of things
that could go wrong.

But it's just like with
the analog process,

the more you put in,
the more you get out.

When we took over the
factory, it was like,

let's bring this film back,

Polaroid stopped making it.

With the camera,

we want to create our own kind
of future for these products.

It was very much about
dreaming in the early days.

And it needed to
be about dreaming

to get it started
and off the ground.

You needed to do stupid
things like buy the factory

to start the thing.

But to actually bring
it to profitability

and to bring it to as
many people as possible,

you actually need
to do a lot of work.

And honestly, you know, we
started doing that a year ago

'cause before it was
more about the dreaming.

Doc and The Impossible Project
captivated a lot of hearts,

including mine.

I mean, I suffered
pack after pack

of the early
Impossible Project film

to get those few
shots worth keeping.

But there just weren't
enough enthusiasts like me

to keep the business around.

We had this amazing story,

we had this amazing mission,

but at the end of the day,

we had a lot of work
ahead of ourselves

to make it a sustainable
company or we'd be gone.

One of the turning points

was bringing Stephen Herchen
on board around 2014.

I mean he knows
instant photography

better than anyone on
the planet now I guess,

and actually worked
directly with Edwin Land

straight after
graduating from MIT.

And he's been instrumental

in evolving the product to
where it needs to get to.

Actually, just that
one, that one there.

Yeah, thank you.

While the company had to focus

much more on viable products,

Doc continued on his quest,

authentic and possibly
impossible projects,

such as craftspeople swimming

against the tide of convenience.

We still have to
really fight hard

because still on a daily basis,

things, machine,
technologies disappear.

We are in Berlin

and I have some
negatives from New York

to develop my analog shots
myself and experiment.

We're living in the digital age.

This seems like a lot of hassle.

It's good sometimes

to just be completely
lost on your own

in this little cave for the
whole day or the whole night

and you can't even
have your mobile phone

'cause you have a bright screen

and it will destroy the picture.

So I think that's very healthy,

I don't think it's a hassle.

I think also for your brains

and for your physical feelings,

just moving, doing things,
looking at it properly

and not having this weird
bright light around you

from computer screens, yeah.

It's very calming and
it's very rewarding.

♪ Ruffled at my base ♪

♪ And it walked under my tree ♪

♪ When suddenly it
seemed all the fingers ♪

♪ Were pointing up at me ♪

♪ And the footsteps
in the side ♪

♪ Will all get washed up ♪

So all was well
in the land of analog?

No.

In reality, their
products weren't selling

and Impossible was fast
running out of money.

Doc was under pressure.

Financially, we had
to find a serious investor

to take the next steps with us.

The candidates were
not standing in line.

Luckily, we found
Mr. Smolokowski.

Oskar back then
convinced his father

to give Impossible a chance.

He got excited
about the project.

So I think I just
forwarded an email.

I was like, "They're
not great yet,

but this has some potential."

Slava was a classically
trained clarinet player,

but also an inventive investor,

which happened to be exactly
what Impossible needed

this time.

It's analog.

I think we needed
a bit of a reality check.

For the product to work
for more than a few people,

which was what was needed

to kind of keep the
lights on in the factory,

we needed to do
something about it

or the whole dream could die.

If you start to doubt
your own product

or if you don't
have this 100% trust

that comes from inside,

it's hard to sell it,

it's hard to convince
other people.

The problem with Oskar,

he didn't really feel
secure about the quality

and many other topics.

You know, I always even
with the worst film,

I say, "Wow, I love it.

Look at these killer
crystals, wow."

It's one thing to have a dream

and it's a very different thing

to actually execute on that
dream and build a company.

I always like to do things

that can go totally wrong or
be super, super incredible.

You know, Steve Jobs,

what was so brilliant
about Steve Jobs?

He was the only guy who
you really believed in

that he really was
in love and proud

and crazy for his own products.

And in today's world,
this is very unusual.

I was lucky.

I found what I love
to do early in life.

I started Apple in my
parents' garage when I was 20.

And in 10 years, Apple had grown

into a two billion dollar company with
over 4,000 employees.

And then I got fired.

How can you get fired from
a company you started?

Well, this is how.

The film was still a disaster.

Millions had been lost.

Something had to give.

And that something was Doc.

Sometimes life's

gonna hit you in the
head with a brick.

Don't lose faith.

It was crazy.

Of course, it hurt me
to to leave the company

but then loss of energy

or even thinking of giving
up was never on the table.

Doc's energy was insuppressible.

He didn't stay down long.

Of course, he'd soon start
a new impossible project.

Supersense is one
of my dreams come true.

Spending a lot of time
with the rediscovery

of analog technologies
in a digital world,

I found out that the
people who love Polaroid

they also love wine

or they also love good coffee,

they also love letterpress,

they also love books.

And so I said, "Let's bring
all these things together

in one very special place."

And I found this
crazy Venetian palace

in the heart of Vienna

and I said, "Okay,
this is the place

that would be the perfect home

for bringing all these crazy
technologies under one roof."

People always ask me,

"What is it?

Is it a museum, a bar,
a restaurant, a shop?"

Basically, it's a
laboratory for me.

We can try a lot of crazy
things and technologies.

♪ That I find of you ♪

♪ Every time, every time ♪

♪ No one that lives ♪

♪ Could want you more ♪

♪ For I was born to glory ♪

♪ In your kiss ♪

♪ Forever yours ♪

♪ I was blessed with
love to love you ♪

♪ Till the stars burn
round above you ♪

♪ Till the moon is
like a silver shadow ♪

Meanwhile, back in Berlin,

Oskar and his team
are working on ways

to make the company better,

to create cool analog
products for digital natives.

2010, '11, '12,

if you explained to people
what we we're doing,

they'd say, "Oh, nice,
they'll probably fail."

I mean the reality is

Impossible is one
percent of the market.

And then we were hoping
to grow from there.

But at the end of the day,

this idea of
rebelliousness or not,

I mean we're still gonna
be this company here.

Impossible was a totally
rebellious concept.

You know, like it's a
concept that had no logic

really behind it at all.

It was just a very
impassioned person

following through
on their dream.

And I think it's
important for us

that we maintain some of that.

We need to put our finger

on what it was that
made it so special.

And the idea that we landed
on is bring magic to life.

This is how they used
to do nice brochures.

So this is 1972.

But this idea of magic
is kind of everywhere.

And if you really think about
what all these cameras did

since the '50s, '60s, '70s,

whether it was a small moment
with a family or people,

we really want to preserve
that and to build that.

If we get this right,

that next product can be great.

Hi, I'm Oskar.

Hi.

I worked on this camera

and I'm CEO of The
Impossible Project now.

I wanted to invite you to
just give me some feedback.

Okay.

Okay, it looks like it's
came from the future.

Good.

I think it's very sexy.

Very sexy, very good to hear.

How would you take a photo?

Yeah, maybe on and off.

Um.

Agh, help.

- How would you?
- I have no idea.

Oh.

So you've got eight lights,

which corresponds to
eight photos in each pack.

It tells you how
many you have left.

Smile now.

Yes.

I like the idea.

Really interesting.

Oskar was heading to New York.

He had put everything
into Impossible's first

all new camera, the i1.

The ring flash is
great for portraits.

And when you turn the camera on,

it tells you how many
photos you have left.

Then you can switch
it to bluetooth mode.

So you have two sides.

I have no idea whether
the Impossible Project

is onto something or
is not onto something.

It's very difficult to
know with any generation,

what technology
is gonna take off

and whether or not
something this retro

given that everybody's got
a camera in their pocket

is really gonna have
any kind of resonance.

I think I'm pretty,
a responsible person.

When I start something I
want to make it happen.

A lot of milestones is
in front of the company.

This is one of the important,

but not first and not last.

I very much do believe
in real businesses.

But the question is what
is the business model?

Is the business model
earning billions every year

and, you know, growing
100% every six months?

I don't think the
world works like that.

So how does it work?

Doc sent me to meet his
friends at Moleskine,

probably analog's
greatest success story.

They had just saved
something themselves.

Fratelli Bonvini,

Milan's oldest stationary
shop and printers.

Analog, we are analog.

We are something very physical.

So analog is not thinking.

It's a real thing.

Handwriting, for example,

many schools, especially
in the United States,

started to eliminate the
teaching of handwriting

in the primary school.

And then neuroscientists
started to underline

the fact that a
difficult learning

of this kind of physical gesture

is something that is implying
a wider part of our brain

because physical
is hard, is heavy,

is something difficult
to learn, to manage.

This is bringing
us to access a knowledge,

experience and the
special emotions

and the capacity of
deep understanding.

As a child, I was always
fascinated by science fiction.

I love my iPhone,

but you know, the very
success of Moleskine

has been through technology

because people
suddenly discovered

that they could do
their writing on paper

but at the same time,
showing it, sharing it

and creating
communities around that

through technology
and through digital.

We think that this
opportunity is for the future.

Of course, we are a
sort of natural place

for designer or younger
creative people here,

but not only.

Yesterday night, a client saying
sometimes I'm entering here

just to smell the different
flowers that you have here,

the wood, the ink, the paper.

This is not a museum for sure.

Dreamers need partners

to help them make
the dreams come true,

ideally with deep
pockets to match.

Christmas in Vienna.

This is the analog
capital of Europe,

if not the analog
capital of the world.

Oh, I can't wait.

I know, I know.

Doc had invited
David Burnett and his team

to discuss investment
opportunities in vinyl.

So welcome.

Wow, this is it?

- That's it.
- Wow.

Now, it's still under
development, but yeah.

So basically the first room,

this is where Flo is
gonna work on this cluster

and then on the right side,

we have the printing area
we're gonna see later.

But first, I have to show
you a very special thing

because you knew Seeburg 1000

and this is also from
the family of Seeburg.

Does it work?

Of course it works.

You remember nothing
that doesn't work.

I know.

I mean I've seen
pictures of this.

I've never seen one in person.

Layla, this is so cool.

This is incredible.

We have to build our own
formal cut, you know?

Absolutely.

Gonna meet Anna.

Hi, David.

At the same time, when
we do the recording,

we produce all the covers.

So we have developed a very
special cover that comes-

David was one of the
Internet's first millionaires,

a digital pioneer.

In the '90s,

he had invented GeoCities, an
early social media platform.

But lately, David had fallen
back in love with analog.

- Go, go, go.
- Go, go.

I'm gonna go
with the red button.

You changed the world.

- Okay?
- Okay.

I go for the black button.

Okay.

One, two, three.

Very good, very good, very good.

Thank you.

The smell, you know again?

The acid.

I think the new
definition of luxury

is not necessarily
jewelry and watches.

It's the curated experiences.

It's the authentic
one-of-a-kind experiences

that analog provide,

a custom photograph,
a custom record.

You have to smell it because
this is an incredible smell.

You don't have to listen.

The resolution's so crisp.

Because it's one-to-one, it's
not an enlargement.

Oh it's one-to-one, right.

Do we roll 'em up
after it dries?

Yeah, yeah,
yeah after it drives.

- Push on.
- Push on, yep.

Or this off.

- Push on.
- Okay then photo.

Photo, and it's zero, one.

You can hear it working.

You can even see it working.

- Really?
- Yeah.

Oh my God, it's so cool.

It's a whole jukebox

in a very stylish cabinet.

And you can program it.

So you really can, you know,

when you have a romantic dinner,

you program it

and then you have three
hours continuously.

Oh look, look at the
movement right there.

Isn't that beautiful?

I just want to say,
thank you, everybody.

This has been a fantastic
series of performances

of classic and new music

here in the Supersense
Analog Palace in Vienna.

Your magnificent playing has
been recorded right back there

direct to disc.

So this is not a pressing,

this is direct from
the microphones

to the cutting head to the disc,

which is unprecedented.

And I just want to say thank you

for being part of the renaissance of
this classic music

and the renaissance of analog
history here in Vienna.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

At Impossible,

a negotiation was going
on behind closed doors.

It's the dream to reunite
The Impossible Project

with the Polaroid brand.

If this works out, it
will be Slava and Oskar

who will make this dream happen.

Is everybody here?

Cool.

All right, so we can start.

So I think this
is the first time

where I don't feel
like I'm bullshitting

that I'm saying The Impossible
Project is a success.

Okay, so let's go through this.

So Polaroid acquired
by new ownership group

led by the Smolokowski family.

The new owners acquired
100% of the shares.

Mr. Smolokowski is also
majority shareholder

of The Impossible Project,

the company that purchased

the last remaining
Polaroid factory in 2008

and continues to
manufacture instant film

for legacy Polaroid cameras.

The day we
flew the Polaroid flag

at the factory again was huge.

We're also very
pleased to welcome

the ownership group
to the Polaroid family

and excited to begin
writing the next chapter

in the story of
the Polaroid brand.

In 2008, obviously Doc
started The Impossible Project

and now in 2017, we're
becoming Polaroid,

which I honestly didn't expect.

Obviously, thanks to you guys.

It really felt
like a brand new company.

Finally, even the film worked.

You know Polaroid's
goal and Dr. Land's goal

for a camera like this was

this is the most important
part, this red button.

So if I, all I should have
to do is press the button.

This is our film that
we've been selling

and this is our new film.

The biggest thing I think

that a customer will
see right off the bat

is that it's a faster
developing film.

It's the most instant
film that we've made.

In my mind, it's
really the first film

that's worthy of
being called instant.

Is that important?

Yeah, it is.

If you think of a magician

who's gonna pull a
rabbit out of a hat,

well if it takes 20 minutes
for him to get it out,

chances are it's not gonna
be a very effective act.

But if it's fast,

then obviously it
makes a difference.

Here you can see

that there's already a
recognizable image here

and here there's nothing.

So at this point,

we're three or four minutes
into the development process

and you can now see this one
is fairly well-developed.

This is gonna be the new
Polaroid Originals film.

A customer doesn't
have to know anything

about the complexity
of the film.

All they have to know is how
to take it out of the carton

and put it into the camera.

The kind of three things
that have happened

that are really changing the
dynamics of the entire company.

One is the quality of the
film has gotten better

and it's finally
gotten more instant

and it's finally
gotten to be instant.

Another is that we
have a really nice

lower cost brand new camera.

And the third is that
we're combining those two

with this world famous brand.

And that's gonna change the
whole dynamics of the company.

We had witnessed
a bit of a miracle.

The 1940s tech was back in 2018.

It worked and it was
called Polaroid again.

Oskar and Doc had pulled
the rabbit from that hat.

I was 22 when
I joined the project

and obviously I had no idea
it would become my whole life.

I mean there were
years on the journey

where I definitely
wanted to quit.

But every year there
was more to be done

and it felt too important to
even think about anything else.

So before I knew it, I was 30

and this project indeed
became my whole life.

We are one big Polaroid
Impossible family today.

I wanted to thank everybody

who made Impossible
Project a reality today.

Thank you so much.

80 years ago to the day,

right here in New York,

Edwin Land had founded
the Polaroid Corporation.

How rare is it that
such a company,

analog and totally not Silicon
Valley rises from the ashes?

The underdog was proven right.

What an achievement.

Doc would have been proud.

But no one had made sure
he was there that night.

I was standing for the
romantic, passionate,

dreamy, crazy part.

That was super important
in the beginning.

I think it was a
beautiful love affair.

And as you know,

not everything goes very
easy in love affairs.

It had many twists
and many discussions

but it was a big challenge
with a lot of up and downs.

Of course, without shite and
failure and making mistakes

there is no progress.

But this is the thing,
you know, try it.

Is it the failure that I'm not,

or do I feel sad because
I'm not actively involved

in Polaroid nowadays?

Yeah sometimes yes, of course,

because I thought
this would be my dream

and especially I
promised to my wife,

this is the last project,

you know, this
time it works out.

But on the other hand, I
would never be sitting here

if things had not
evolved like that

and I have the feeling, okay,
the whole Polaroid story,

maybe this was just the warmup

for many other projects to do.

There are many other places

to take care that they
are not vanishing.

I think I scare a lot of people,

but my hope is that some people

are inspired to
think out of the box

and maybe try things that
at first are impossible.

It didn't take Doc long

to find a new
impossible love affair,

the most analog place

he had ever laid his
eyes on needed saving,

a 1902 car hotel outside Vienna

that had stood empty but fully
functional since the 1970s

waiting for the right Doc
Quixote to kiss it back to life.

This is Südbahnhotel
up in Semmering,

a very special car
hotel close to Vienna

and the last guest
checked out 42 years ago.

It's part of a crazy vision

of bringing analog treasures
and pleasures to the people

and help people remember

that places like that
built over centuries

are important, even
in a digital world.

We have to open this hotel.

It's not a question.

It's not even think about it.

As you can imagine, my wife
kills me because she says,

"Can you finally
concentrate on one thing?

Can you do one thing and
you know, have it done?"

And I just say,

"It's always exactly
the same thing.

This is exactly what
it is all about."

The owners love this hotel,

but every McKinsey consultant
has been telling them

it's impossible to reopen,

uneconomical, not
profitable, blah, blah, blah.

Until Doc came along with
his style of business plan.

Just give it a good clean,
don't change a thing,

it's perfect already,
can't you see?

Saving the Südbahnhotel
would require passion

and a lot of money.

Doc had plenty of the former
and none of the latter.

But then he got an email from
the most unlikely of senders.

Doc was headed to Silicon
Valley of all places

and there, rather less
impressively located in a swamp,

sat one of the world's
largest companies ever.

The whole world had begun
wondering about Facebook,

but few people had seen
it from the inside.

Doc strolled right in.

He had a question for
Mark and his team.

I don't know exactly
what will happen

but I have a feeling it's
just important to keep going.

It's a big question.

And even the guys
who founded it said,

"Okay, this is out of control."

In the beginning,

when we started a film with
the Impossible factory,

this was a universe
that didn't care.

And over the years, this
has totally changed.

Everybody called me crazy.

And now I think
more and more people

think Facebook is crazy
and out of their mind.

It was Scott Bones

of something with the promising
name of Analog Research Lab

who had got in touch.

"Dear Doc,

The mission you're on and the
story you're looking to tell

is very close to my heart

and right in our sweet
spot here at Facebook.

This is a very different
kind of project

so I'm not even
sure where to start.

A few of us had an interesting
meeting on Wednesday

that ties into things like this

and we'd absolutely love
to have you out to visit

and talk more with us.

We're actively
pursuing opportunities

to reach out into the real
world in a positive way

and have stories like
this that we can share,

especially as I feel
like we're in the middle

of a really important
moment in time right now.

Talk soon, Scott."

"Yes Scott,

your words, even if
just received digitally

are full of delicious
analog energy

and I urgently need to meet
you again and dive deeper.

I 150% agree that
Facebook urgently

need a deep cultural
consciousness",

I probably looked this
up in the dictionary,

"Reconnecting you
to the real world

and all your fantastic senses.

Can't wait to discuss
this face to face.

Excited talk."

Think different.

That was once the motto here

in the land of Google,
Facebook and Apple,

the cradle of our digital world.

Doc came to remind them of it.

These companies,

they start building
a parallel universe.

All these employees there,

basically, there's no reason

for them to live or think
outside that universe.

So how can they solve the
problems in the real world

when they don't
even know about it?

Yeah, just a website.

10,000 people are working
on one website, it's crazy.

Somehow it felt like
being in a movie.

It's not at all
connected to reality.

Yes, in a genuine

life is stranger
than fiction turn,

Doc discovered that

at the very center of
Facebook headquarters

where you would least expect it,

there really was an
analog heart beating.

- Hello, welcome.
- Hello.

I'm Dana Martin.

I'm the programming
manager here at Facebook.

Doc hey.

I'm Scott Bones, I'm
the graphic design lead

here at Facebook in the
Analog Research Lab.

Wow, thank you so much
for having me here

on this I think
very special place.

Yeah, very happy to have you.

How can this be, honestly?

It's quite a treat to have
a creative space like this

at a digital company.

I think it really
is important for us

when we're trying to build
bridges within our community

and it definitely
expands to our mission

and our goal of connecting
the whole world.

We definitely fit
into Facebook culture

and we've been called the
heart and soul of Facebook.

And Facebook's mission is
to connect the whole world

and bring the whole
world closer together.

I think analog and research

really speaks to how we
want people to slow down.

Humans are the only animal

that can not only think
of what is but what isn't.

So we can see the impossible
and bring it to fruition.

I really love the name
Analog Research Lab.

And what would be your
answer when I ask you,

what is the smell of Facebook?

I think it would be different
for different people.

I mean in here we
come in and we smell

the dust that settles
on things in the room

or a can of ink
or a can of paint.

Are we talking about

the people working
here as a community or?

I find myself spending
less time online

than I think I did before
I started working here,

which is a little ironic.

But I think that just speaks
to how much we really value

and how we want to
impact the world.

So, Facebook had a
soul after all and a smell?

Doc wasn't so sure,

but always one for
going the other way,

he put it to a test.

He attempted some kind
of analog judo grip.

Doc's plan was to
persuade Facebook

to cohost his long cherished
Analog Superheroes Dinner

at the Südbahnhotel.

So this is our invitation?

Invitation for the big evening

that will change the
future of analog.

But we have to talk about
the guest list, right?

12 people.

12 to 15 I think was
sort of the magic,

seemed like the magic number.

Yeah, this is a dinner menu,

not boring food, but
food for thought.

Yeah, exactly, very good.

So we thought it's
not just about

sitting together and being nice,

but we have some
really crucial answers.

How does digital smell?

Does digital make any sense?

After a long period

of analog companies trying
hard to become digital,

I think it's now time
for the digital companies

to start thinking of how
to connect with people

in analog ways.

So here we go.

You can already kind of see
some of the image on there.

It looks very harmonic.

Yes and there
is a harmony to it.

We're mixing up something
that started digital

and it's transforming
back to analog.

This is something you
can't do digitally.

I take a picture.

This is fine for you?

Yeah.

Don't move, don't move.

It's black and white film,
Scott, unfortunately.

Okay.

So these two colors stand
for analog and digital.

I think the analog should
be the bright color.

This is not about
good or bad or evil

This is about how
can we create a world

where there's a balance again.

This is the future baby.

Look at it.

Why I end up co-hosting this
amazing evening with Facebook,

you know a lot of bad
things are happening.

But again, I think this
is the perfect moment

to start acting against it.

This is not just about Facebook.

This is about if you
want to change the world

you should sit together with
the biggest companies on Earth

to change something.

Because with my
friends and old guys,

we can sit together
having many beers,

but we will never
change the world.

Okay, everyone ready?

Roll sound.

Roll camera.

He did it.

After 42 years,

Doc had opened the doors to
the Südbahnhotel once again.

Facebook, Moleskine,
Supersense, Polaroid,

everyone he wanted to work
together was coming together,

at least for one
larger than life night

of enjoying all five senses.

How can you not
see people sitting here

having a nice glass of wine,

walk around this hotel

and look and have
your own dreams

of all the things
that happened here?

It's like cinema.

It's like you are in the movie.

♪ Sunny day ♪

♪ In all its glory ♪

♪ Hot as the 4th of July ♪

♪ The wind came in ♪

♪ And it graced my face ♪

♪ And it led me to your eyes ♪

♪ Something told me ♪

♪ I'd be seeing you again ♪

♪ But for some reason
I still cried ♪

♪ Now years have gone by ♪

♪ I've stood by your side ♪

♪ But there's
something on my mind ♪

You know, I started

because I was in
love with this hotel.

What more do you need
than you feel happy here

even if there's no heating
and there's no wine,

there's no service?

Nobody is here, but
already you feel happy

and you can spend hours here.

You don't need to study
hotel science for 15 years

to find out that this
is a magic place.

♪ I, I don't know ♪

♪ I don't know how ♪

♪ I don't know how to love you ♪

♪ No I ♪

♪ I don't know, baby ♪

♪ I don't know how ♪

♪ Said I don't know
how to love you ♪

♪ Now in the morning ♪

♪ I reach for your embrace ♪

♪ 'Cause I know
that you need it ♪

It was an evening
about celebrating

everything Doc stands for,

about falling in love
again with analog

and the idea that our
lives could be less cold

if we chose in our
projects more impossible.

♪ There've been
many, many times ♪

♪ When my words get
tangled up on the floor ♪

♪ Oh yeah ♪

People are sitting
controlled by their computer,

that's our future.

There are people in photography

that are doing beautiful
work, photography work-

That effort part of it
is really important.

Thank you everybody for coming.

It's I think a very
important evening

but hopefully there
should be some fun.

I have been asked several times

what exactly is the
plan for tonight?

We need more
Doc's in this world.

It's important to
support the people

doing good work with
fundamentally good values.

My question is is
there a role of digital

making this world
a better place?

Digital technology in general

is at the infancy.

In terms of getting
shit done, it's better.

We think our
customers are idiots.

What are you saying?

I mean we could talk
about digital and analog,

but the balance of all
things good and evil

boils down to give people
something real, they grab it.

What makes us fucking human?

What makes us human is that
we still have emotions.

And if we forgot what
the emotions mean,

let's at least trigger
each other to have

- those emotions.
- I don't think

we have to pit them
against each other.

We don't have to choose.

We can have both.

But the problem is we would
not be able to look at both

if not some people
stand up and do shit

that nobody else is doing.

I don't even know for myself

will I ever succeed

and not wake up every week

not knowing exactly
how to pay the bills?

Analog, digital,
I cannot hear it anymore.

It's like thinking
about sustainability,

love and hate and
like and dislike.

It's so overdigested, you know?

My wife tends to the theory

that I'm one of the
world's biggest losers

at the end of the day

and I tend to think of

that I'm one of the most
successful visionaries.

Maybe in one more difficult year

or two difficult years
or 10, we will find out.

Who cares?

You care

You are shooting on 35
millimeter, you know?

Who cares?

I'm talking about-

Everybody cares.

Everybody cares.

Especially the young
generation cares.

When they start to roast
their own coffees, they care.

They just don't know that
places like this exist so-

Sorry Doc, it's not a business.

A business?

What is a business?

Business?

What is a business?

What counts, in what
world business counts?

No, I don't believe in that.

♪ No, no regrets ♪

♪ No, I will have no regrets ♪

♪ All the things
that went wrong ♪

♪ For at last, I have
learned to be strong ♪

♪ No, no regrets ♪

♪ No, I will have no regrets ♪

♪ For the grief doesn't last ♪

♪ It is gone ♪

♪ I forgot too fast ♪

♪ And the memories I have ♪

♪ I no longer desire ♪

♪ Both the good and the bad ♪

♪ I flung out in the fire ♪

♪ And I feel in my heart ♪

♪ That a seed has been sown ♪

♪ It is something quite new ♪

♪ It's like nothing I've known ♪

♪ No, no regrets ♪

♪ No, I will have no regrets ♪

♪ All the things
that went wrong ♪

♪ For at last, I have
learned to be strong ♪

♪ No, no regrets ♪

♪ No, I will have no regrets ♪

♪ For the seed that is new ♪

♪ It's the love ♪

♪ That is growing for you ♪