Case Studies
The Federal Archives of Germany use their DFT Polar HQ Film Scanners for Flagship Project Metropolis DFT is pleased to announce that three Polar HQ scanners have been fully integrated into The Federal Archives’ digitization workflow. The Polar HQ scanners provide high-quality digitization for archival films across a range of conditions, including those that are damaged or fragile. In addition to Polar HQ, three Scanity HDR systems are in operation at The Federal Archives, enabling film digitization at exceptional quality and high throughput. All six scanners feature the latest dry gate and wet gate technology, offering versatility for digitizing archival films in varying conditions and supporting a wide range of preservation and restoration workflows.
Archivio Luce (Cinecittà, Rome) successfully employs Polar HQ to digitize severely damaged film reels During a recent visit to Archivio Luce (Cinecittà) in Rome, Digital Film Technology (DFT) observed the successful use of the newly installed Polar HQ film scanner. Archivio Luce digitized several extensively damaged film reels including a 35mm print of an animated film released in 1938. The Archivio Luce team expressed great admiration for the Polar HQ’s groundbreaking capability to continuously scan film previously considered unscannable. This milestone marked a special achievement at Archivio Luce, Italy’s national film archive, which safeguards the audiovisual heritage of Italy’s 20th century and is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent collections, listed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register since 2013.
Polar HQ Film Scanner Used to Recover Original Camera Negative of Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries" DFT recently had the privilege of welcoming representatives of the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) to its headquarters in Darmstadt. The SFI brought with them a cinematic treasure: a reel of the original black-and-white camera negative of Ingmar Bergman's 1957 classic "Smultronstället" (Wild Strawberries). The Swedish Film Institute had acquired the original camera negative of “Wild Strawberries” some time ago, at which point one reel had already been severely damaged. Large portions of the left-side perforations were missing. The extensive damage to the film’s perforations posed fundamental challenges for conventional scanners. Failing synchronization and the significantly reduced width of the 35mm stock rendered the reel virtually impossible to scan. Polar HQ was employed to overcome these challenges.
Scanity HDR Film Scanner with Wetgate revives André de Toth`s film Legacy Each restored film is a bridge connecting past artistic visions with contemporary audiences, proving that cinema is not just entertainment, but a profound method of cultural memory. The story of survival. For each film that has been preserved, many more are lost or in danger of deterioration...
White Noise (2022): Dailies scan with Scanity at Fotokem "White Noise" is a novel by Don DeLillo, published in 1985, and adapted into a film directed by Noah Baumbach in 2022. The story follows Jack Gladney, a professor of Hitler studies at the fictional College-on-the-Hill, his wife Babette, and their blended family of four children...
Scan once with Scanity HDR scanned at Fotokem, Burbank: Poolman (2023) Poolman is a 2023 comedy mystery film directed by Chris Pine who also has the lead role as Darren Barrenman, an optimistic pool cleaner in Los Angeles. The story unfolds as Darren, who is dedicated to improving his community, becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving a corrupt politician and a shady real estate deal after being approached by the femme fatale June Del Rey...
Restoration with Scanity HDR: Medical sitcom Doogie Howser M.D., scanned at Fotokem Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American medical sitcom that aired on ABC from September 19, 1989, to March 24, 1993. The show follows the life of Dr. Douglas "Doogie" Howser, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris, a teenage prodigy who becomes a licensed physician at the age of 14...
Requiem for a Dream scanned with DFT's Scanity Requiem for a Dream (2000) - an American psychological drama that depicts four characters affected by drug addiction and how it alters their physical and emotional states. Their addictions cause them to become imprisoned in a world of delusion and desperation. As the film progresses, each character deteriorates, and their delusions are shattered by the harsh reality of their situations, resulting in catastrophe...
Scanity is globally renowned as the world’s best film scanner, producing fast, high quality film digitisation for the biggest features and franchises such as No Time To Die, The French Dispatch, Jurassic World Dominion, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and many more. Its speed and versatility also make it ideal for use in archive and remastering facilities, offering digitisation to many different specs and formats, while its sprocket-less transport system enables scanning of even damaged and delicate film material.
We are impressed with the speed, the gentle film-handling, the resolution, dynamic range, and ease of operation of dft's Scanity. Reliability is always a major factor, and we place a big emphasis upon commissioning, training and after-sales support. Our experience with dft has been exemplary. Although we are on the other side of the world, we have rapid response to any questions, and are continually impressed by the expertise of DFT's front-line staff
"Seeing the Polar HQ successfully scan films once considered unscannable, was both surprising and deeply impressive” “This achievement sets a new reference in film scanning technology and shows how we can now safely digitize materials once thought impossible to preserve."
“We were really hoping everything would work out in this scan project on Polar HQ with the original Ingmar Bergman negative roll. And it has worked out very well!" "We are very happy about that. It saves us from having to do a manual restoration, preparing the roll for scanning on a conventional scanner. It saved us a lot of time and money“