Lab Saved!

About six months ago, under the headline ’Save the Lab’ you could read here about how Focus Film AB, the last film lab in Scandinavia, were in a dire situation. To our great relief –and to the relief of all scandinavian productions wishing to shoot film- we can now rearrange the words in the headline to: “Lab Saved!”

If you’ve followed these events since february you’ll know that the FSF started a fundraiser to enable Focus Film and its owner Ali Boriri to buy a new film scanner –the response was highly encouraging and we raised a respectable sum in the six-figure range. But perhaps of greater importance was the fact that the publicity reached beyond the community of swedish cinematographers and put Ali in touch with a financier.
A financial solution now fell into place and –given the greater ease of having one financier rather than many- Ali repaid the money that so many FSF members generously had lent.  With the money now in place in Stockholm you’d think the wheels would start spinning rapidly, but there were still several hurdles to clear, the seller was in Los Angeles and the scanner itself in South Africa and having an ocean between the parties didn´t exactly help.

However, finally the logistics of payment and transportation were resolved and at the end of september the scanner arrived in Stockholm. Now extensive diagnostic tests had to be performed to ensure flawless operation after a shipment halfway around the globe.

Robert Duguid from Digital Film Technology GMBH is one of four service technicians stationed in England and specialising in Scanity scanners–for instance, the Star Wars VII shoot relied on two Scanitys installed at Pinewood Studios.

And now, with the scanner “up and running” Focus Film can once again offer development and scanner services at a one-stop-shop -which spells speed and flexibility to their customers!  And of course you can buy the Kodak range of motion picture raw stock here as well!