by Peter Volkart
A photo that you hold in your hand immediately after clicking? 70 years ago this was an almost magical innovation! The story begins in the post-war period with the brilliant American inventor Dr. Edwin Land. Polaroid’s instant photography is born, a phenomenon that subsequently shapes whole generations of snap shooters and photographers, attracting a wide array of wildly experimenting artists. Half a century and a digital revolution later, the demise of Polaroid seems unavoidable. But the presumably dead keep on living. What follows is the miraculous resurrection of a cult object in a world dominated by Smartphones. SUBITO is not just an originally narrated film about the origin and importance of instant photography, it is also a highly amusing insight into popular culture and the untiring human enthusiasm for technical novelty.