Insignia Films Storytelling that Sheds Light on the Human Condition

Mr. Polaroid
Long before the iPhone, another inventive device allowed everyone to instantly chronicle their lives — the Polaroid camera. The product, and the company’s unique culture, would launch not only instant photography mania but also become the model for today’s Silicon Valley tech culture. It all began with the Polaroid Model 95, first offered for sale in the fall of 1948. Its revolutionary power to allow the photographer to see the picture then and there would change the country, then the world.

Mr. Polaroid tells the little-known story of the man behind the camera, a Harvard dropout named Edwin Land. Over a half century ago, before the smartphone, Land was dreaming up “a camera that you would use as often as your pencil or your eyeglasses.” He would also come to believe his company was “on its way to lead the world — perhaps even to save it.” Hubris, technology, brilliance, and a billion photographs a year are all part of the rollicking Polaroid story.

Watch the trailer here


DIRECTOR

Gene Tempest


WRITER

Gene Tempest

PRODUCERS

Amanda Pollak


EDITOR

Josh Melrod


ORIGINAL SCORE

Eduardo Aram


In association with American Experience  



BROADCASTER

PBS American Experience

VIEW AT

PBS

RUN TIME

 01 Hour


© Insignia Films 2024