Written by Henry Thong
When I bought my first 35mm point-and-shoot, I never imagined it would change my life… or lead me to make my first feature-length documentary.
This is the story of how I discovered film photography, why I decided to make a documentary about its revival, and how you can be a part of it.
Finding My Love for Film
I started my career as a filmmaker in Australia making films about artists and their creative process. My work has featured a wide range of people––from the actor and comedian Ronny Chieng to Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Laufey––but everything I shot was digital.
For years, I admired film from a distance. It seemed too mysterious, expensive, and difficult––something that belonged to another time. The closest I got to analog was emulating film through Lightroom and Premiere plugins.
Then, when COVID hit soon after I moved to New York, I found myself craving connection, community, and a creative outlet. That was when I took the leap and loaded my first roll. Within months, my little Olympus XA2 point and shoot grew into a collection that included an Olympus OM-1N SLR, then a Hasselblad 501C.
Soon, I was attending meetups around Brooklyn and Manhattan, and discovering a community that was welcoming, vibrant, and deeply diverse. I started to see that this wasn’t just nostalgia––it was a movement and a response to the digital age we’re living through.
For nearly five years, I fell deeper into film. I followed film creators on YouTube and Instagram, read Shoot It With Film’s newsletter and website religiously, and documented more and more of my own life on celluloid.
I also started bringing my film cameras to set to capture portraits of the artists I worked with, or behind-the-scenes photos between takes.
Making a Documentary
As a nonfiction filmmaker, I searched for documentaries about film’s revival, but none fully captured what I was seeing. Few to none explored COVID’s role in the resurgence of analog, or how AI might shape its future.
As an Asian-Australian immigrant, I also didn’t see the diversity of our community fully represented to the degree that I knew it could be. As I met more and more photographers and creators in the community, I found myself wanting to celebrate and commemorate the film community through my own lens.
So, in early 2025, I began making Analog: a self-funded and independent documentary about film’s unlikely revival in the 21st century, the vibrant global community that’s grown around it, and where it might all be headed in an ever-increasing hyper-digital AI future.
I wanted to make a love letter to this medium and our community at this special moment in time––something future generations of film shooters could look back on to understand how we got here.
What You’ll See in Analog
Analog was originally conceived to be a short film–– 20 minutes or less–– but as I interviewed more and more key figures in the community, the story grew to span continents and generations. I realized that this was larger than I had originally anticipated. It justified a feature-length film.
So, over the past 7 months, I’ve met and interviewed people I’ve long admired, from the United States to China and Japan. It became clear that this movement was a global one being fueled by the overwhelming world we’re living in––people are rejecting our fast-paced, digital and intangible environment, and turning back to something slower, more meditative, and intentional.
And, because I couldn’t make a film about analog and shoot it entirely on digital, I’ve captured key scenes on Super 8 and 16mm film to honor the analog spirit––a process that’s given me a whole new appreciation for my craft.
What surprised me the most was how welcoming and open people were to me and my camera––how much they were willing to share, and how connected this community was across borders and countries.
When you watch Analog, you’ll learn the story of how film “died” and came back to life, why it matters, and why so many people are turning back to its tactile and imperfect beauty.
You’ll also get a look inside the vibrant film community, as well as the stores, studios, and warehouses that are keeping the industry alive. And you’ll gain an understanding not only of how AI could co-exist alongside film, but fuel its revival.
What’s Next (and How You Can Help)
Analog is nearly complete. Most of the filming and editing is done, and I’ve launched my first Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to complete the last shoots, finish post-production, and submit the film to film festivals for a 2026 release.
After its festival run, I plan to release Analog online––either through a streaming platform, or directly on YouTube for the community to easily access it.
As an independent filmmaker, I would be deeply grateful for your support in helping me bring this story to the screen. All backers will be thanked in the film’s credits, with the highest tiers receiving a photoshoot by me, and an Associate Producer credit.
If you believe in keeping analog art alive––or just love film photography––you can learn more and contribute to the campaign here.
Thank you so much, Henry! You can find more of Henry’s work on his website and Instagram, and you can support the Analog documentary project here.
Leave your questions about the Analog documentary below in the comments!
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