Instant Dreams

Instant Dreams
Directed by Willem Baptist
Produced by Pieter van Huystee
Written by Willem Baptist
Music by Marc Lizier
Cinematography Gregor Meerman
Edited by Albert Markus Jr.
Distributed by Synergetic Distribution (USA)
Running time
 91 min.
Country Netherlands
Language English

Instant Dreams is a 2017 documentary directed by Dutch director Willem Baptist. It premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 18 November 2017 where it screened at Tuschinski Amsterdam in the Dutch Documentary Competition and First Appearance Competition. [1] On 14 December 2017 the film was theatrically released in the Netherlands and Belgium. Slamdance Film Festival hosted the American festival premiere on 21 January 2018 in Park City, Utah. [2]

Film content

Instant Dreams tells the story of those who eagerly await the rebirth of the classic and recognizable Polaroid photo, and of scientists who are trying to unravel the secrets of the chemical formula. The film features Stefanie Schneider – a free-spirited German artist who lives in a Polaroid picture-world out in the Californian desert, Christopher Bonanos - an editor at New York Magazine and author of the book Instant: The Story of Polaroid, Stephen Herchen - a chemist who worked alongside polaroid's inventor and in his lab tries to unravel the formula which he describes as “the chemically most complex manmade thing ever made.” Meanwhile in Tokyo, a young girl is just starting to discover it all while taking snap-shots on her Iphone. Their lives are strangely connected, each in their own way compelled not to let the medium die. A central theme in the film is the term Wabi-sabi about the beauty of imperfection.

Besides the main characters there is archival footage of Edwin H. Land, German Cult actor Udo Kier and there is a voice-cameo by documentary director Werner Herzog.

Style of the film

Instant Dreams is not a conventional documentary but rather a visual essay film and borrows some of its style from 1970's science-fiction films. International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) described the film as a "Rollercoaster of color and light".[3] Slamdance compared the cinematography to a mixture between Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey.[4] During a Dutch television appearance Baptist confirmed these films influenced him and that he took cues from Close Encounters of the Third Kind for constructing the story.[5]

Background

In 2016, Impossible Magazine reported that Baptist was shooting a documentary, titled Instant Dreams, in Berlin and California.[6] In an interview with Dutch newspaper Trouw, Baptist said his lively dreams were a source of inspiration in making the documentary.[7] The documentary was shot in multiple locations: Twentynine Palms, New York City, Berlin, Tokyo, Dusseldorf and at the factory of Polaroid Originals in Enschede on different Arri Alexa camera's at 2K and 4K resolution. The aspect-ratio is 2.39:1 cinemascope.

References

  1. ↑ "312-films-geselecteerd-voor-idfa-2017" (in Dutch). biosagenda.nl.nl. 9 September 2017.
  2. ↑ "Slamdance Film Festival Unveils Competition Lineup". variety.com. 28 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Instant Dreams – IDFA". IDFA.nl. 17 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Slamdance 2018 – Instant Dreams". Slamdance2018.eventide.org. 21 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "DocTalks - Willem Baptist". 2doc.nl. 21 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "First look at Instant Dreams: A new documentary about Polaroid pictures". Polaroidsoriginal.com. 3 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Documentairemaker Willem Baptist mijn werk begint met een droom". Trouw.nl. 10 December 2017.
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