The magic of analog photography of course is that you only get to see the photos you took on vacation days or weeks later – when you can reminisce over them. In principle, that’s quite nice. Unfortunately, I am far too impatient and can’t wait to see the pictures. Luckily, there’s the Film Speed Lab. A dropoff and pickup in 24 hours? No problem! Katya, Dima and their team are a seasoned bunch with close to ten years of experience. In addition to classic color and black & white development, they are also one of the few labs in Germany to offer ECN-2 cinema film development. The analog enthusiasts from the Ukrainian capital have only been living in Berlin for a year. Before that, virtually the entire FSL team worked at Fotovramke, an institution for film photography in Kiev. And then came the unthinkable. The worst thing imaginable. Katya and Dima, like so many, were forced to take themselves and their children to safety and flee their homeland. Fotovramke remained open against all odds due to the high demand. Everyone wanted to document the violations of international law. Even Dima and Katya could not simply give in to their felt helplessness and sit quietly waiting. And so, after much deliberation, they opened the Film Speed Lab in Berlin in October 2022. Since then, it has become a meeting place for Ukrainians and photo enthusiasts. Customers became friends and a photo lab became a community – ever grateful for this little piece of Kiev, far away from home in Prenzlauer Berg.
Text & Photos: Jonas Michel
Film Speed Lab, Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Str.32, 10407 Berlin–Prenzlauer Berg; map
Mon–Sun 11–19 Uhr
@film.speed.lab
