When the Edinburgh Filmhouse reopened in June 2025, it made headlines not just as a rescued local institution but as a declaration: celluloid is back. The newly refurbished venue will screen 70 mm, 35 mm, 16 mm, and 8 mm film prints alongside digital projection, embracing analogue formats as part of its mission to “celebrate full diversity of film.” (The Guardian) It’s the kind of bold move that many in the film world have been quietly anticipating for years — but rarely seen at this scale in recent times.
This moment feels part of a broader movement: respected directors, restorers, and laboratories are reasserting the value of the analogue process in a digital-dominated industry. From newly revived film stocks to painstaking restorations of cinematic icons, the question being asked now is not “Are we going back to film?” but “How do we carry film forward?”
Resurrected film stocks: Ferrania, ORWO and the new chemistry
One of the most watched developments in 2025 is the relaunch of FILM Ferrania, now under new ownership by Jake Seal — who also oversees ORWO and the coating facility InovisCoat. (Kosmo Foto) Under its new management, Ferrania’s classic black-and-white lines (P30, P33) are being retooled for consistency, and its long-awaited color film development is back on the roadmap. (Kosmo Foto)
Meanwhile, ORWO (already familiar to many analogue filmmakers) continues to position itself as a bridge between heritage and innovation, supplying non-Kodak alternatives in a market now alarmed by Kodak’s financial shakiness. (analog.cafe) In an era when most color-negative film is produced by a shrinking handful of manufacturers, ORWO’s sustained presence feels critical to the medium’s survival.
For labs like CPC London, such factories represent more than nostalgia — they signal renewed demand for processing, scanning, and archival services. The ripple effect touches coating houses, emulsion scientists, and post-production facilities worldwide.
Restoration as resurrection: from “The Gold Rush” to Hong Kong’s hidden treasures
Restoration work is perhaps the most potent testament to analogue’s endurance. In 2025, a newly restored 4K version of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush premiered at Cannes, returning Chaplin’s 1925 masterpiece to its centennial glory — not from a later sound version, but by reclaiming the silent original. (AP News) At Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, curators presented side-by-side versions of restored and unrestored reels, illustrating how subtle contrast and texture emerge through expert cleaning and scanning machinery — like the British-made BSF Hydra film cleaner. (The New Yorker)
In Asia, M+ Restored in Hong Kong is bringing back nine classic Hong Kong films — including The Arch (1968) and Love Massacre (1981) — with expert digital restoration panels, workshops, and screenings in 35mm. (Time Out Worldwide)
These projects showcase a paradox: the more digital tools we have, the more the human and chemical qualities of film become visible. Restoration is not merely about fixing faults — it’s about renewing intent, texture, and emotional granularity.
Filmmakers lighting the analogue flame
It’s not just archivists and labs pushing film’s resurgence — directors and cinematographers are actively choosing it. Cornish filmmaker Guy Potter recently wrapped Hegoledh, a short commissioned on 16mm Kodak color film. (Wikipedia) The decision is deeply considered: 16mm doesn’t merely look different — it limits, tempers, and forces an economy of image. In an era of infinite digital takes, that constraint becomes a creative virtue.
Across the Atlantic, Vittorio Storaro, Christopher Nolan, David Lean (posthumously), and Roger Deakins still serve as touchstones for film staff debates. Their insistence — that light meets film differently — underlines a recurring claim: the machine cannot (yet) replicate the soul in the emulsion.
Analogue vs AI: why the human hand still matters
At the intersection of art and technology lies an escalating debate: how far should AI assist, restore, or even replace human craft? Andrea Kalas from Iron Mountain recently addressed this tension, describing AI as a tool in restoration, but not a substitute for human curatorial judgment — particularly in restoring sound and painterly nuance. (Variety) Meanwhile, the voice of purists and pragmatists can be heard in photography circles. A recent Fstoppers piece argues film endures not because it’s superior, but because slowing down restores intentionality. (Fstoppers)
In restoration labs, automated dust and scratch removal must be balanced against preserving original grain and edge detail. The guiding principle, as one restorer put it, is: we add nothing that wasn’t there already. (The New Yorker) That principle feels especially true for a cinema ecosystem in which authenticity and human touch are becoming rare currencies.
Why it matters — to film labs, artists, and audiences
The analogue revival is not a boutique niche; it is reshaping infrastructure. More filmmakers are asking, “Can you process 65 mm? Could you support scans at 12K?” In response, labs willing to retain chemical processing, optical printers, and archival scanning become rare, but indispensable.
Likewise, audiences are rediscovering thresholds of texture. When the Filmhouse reopened, its 70mm screening of The Brutalist outperformed the film’s earlier digital run — suggesting audience appetite for analogue difference. (The Guardian) Cinemagoers may not always name “grain” or “halation,” but they sense when an image feels alive.
If you care deeply about how film endures — in processing, scanning, archiving, or restoration — then CPC London stands ready. We’re more than a service provider: we’re custodians of film’s future. Explore our film processing, scanning, printing, or restoration capabilities today.