A Brief History of FILM Ferrania
1882
An explosives factory was built on the banks of the Bormida River in the village of Cairo Montenotte in the Liguria region of Italy.
1938
FILM Ferrania reaches a major milestone when the number of staff hits 500, and factory space totals 90,000 square meters.
1948
Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neorealist drama film The Bicycle Thief is released, beginning a long-running relationship between Ferrania and Italian film masters like Fellini, Rossellini, Pasolini and many (most) others.
1964
Ferrania was a highly respected company, and a major presence in Europe. 3M came calling from America, and grew Ferrania into the third largest film manufacturer in the world.
2008
The iPhone is invented, redefining photography forever and eliminating 90% of the market for film. Ferrania was too big (in factory size) and too small (in brand name) to survive.
2012
Nicola Baldini and Marco Pagni visit the shuttered Ferrania campus and discover the potential for a sustainable future for analogue film.
2014
"100 More Years of Analog Film" Kickstarter campaign raises over $350,000 from 5500+ members of the film community. The money rescues key equipment from the scrap pile for future use.
2017
"Handmade" production techniques result in the first product release, Ferrania P30 Alpha. The response from the film community is overwhelmingly positive.
2022
The Ferrania team pushes through more delays, a global pandemic and supply chain issues to achieve continuous production status - enabling full-time production of 35mm film entirely in-house.
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