Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film (2012)

Thanks to photography our beloved hobby of movies was born. As time progresses the cameras used to take photos have evolved a lot and we have come at a point that almost everyone is constantly carrying a camera with them in the form of their phone. That evolution of course means that formats become less popular and disappear or become a niche market. It happened with tape and LPs with the introduction of CDs and MP3s and the evolution in photography has meant that the Polaroid format also has lost the appeal it once had. The Polaroid cameras were unique as they made instant pictures through a very complex chemical process. The pictures would develop in front of your eyes and you could immediately give it to someone. When the Polaroid company published that they would stop making instant film it meant the death of the format as no other companies were making the film needed to take pictures.

The announcement sent a shock through the very passionate community of Polaroid enthusiasts. Some decided to stock up on film, others abandoned the format altogether because they no longer felt the freedom of taking as many pictures as they’d want and knew they would run out of film.

As the title states, this documentary looks at that last year of the format. It mainly consists out of interviews with people who love the format. It is an understandable choice and these people do make some valid points about the strengths of the format, but I felt the documentary had a bit too much of it and became repetitive. I wished there would be a bit more details about the history of Polaroid than what is presented.

The documentary does have an inspiring look at the future though when a team of engineers try to recreate the film (cool to see these were fellow Dutchmen), but as a whole this felt like a documentary more geared towards the people who are into taking Polaroid pictures. As someone who mostly takes pictures with my phone I started thinking about people having to move on because of the repeated statements. I understand the passion of people, but less would have probably made more impact. There is definitely interesting moments in this documentary, but as a whole I was a bit disappointed.