PUCHAU Films is an independent film project I began in 2019. I make surrealist auteur films on Super 8, working with the methods and materials of analogue cinema from the 1960s and ’70s.
Everything is photographed, edited and finished by hand. The image is captured on celluloid, assembled through physical film processes and released as projected film prints.
Each film is issued in a limited edition of exactly 99 numbered and signed projection prints. Once they’re gone, that’s it. No reprints.
PUCHAU Films has no independent website, social media presence or online store. This page is the only online reference to the project.
CATALOG 2019 / 2026
Title: Skin of paper, eyes as maps
Year: 2019
Time: 12 min
Sound: No
Theme: Melancholic surrealism
Author: Puchau
Edition: 99 reels
Price: $175
Status: Acquired
Title: Merchant of winter’s tenants
Year: 2021
Time: 12 min
Sound: Yes
Theme: Surrealist rupture
Author: Puchau
Edition: 99 reels
Price: $218
Status: Acquired
Title: Absence has a heartbeat
Year: 2022
Time: 13.3 min
Sound: Yes
Theme: Surrealist mystery
Author: Puchau
Edition: 99 reels
Price: $265
Status: Acquired
Title: Babel business but blind bargains
Year: 2023
Time: 10 min
Sound: Yes
Theme: Abstract surrealism
Author: Puchau
Edition: 99 reels
Price: $300
Status: Acquired
Title: Echoes beneath the kiss of roots
Year: 2024
Time: 13.2 min
Sound: Yes
Theme: Surrealist extravagance
Author: Puchau
Edition: 99 reels
Price: $330
Status: Acquired
Title: No arms and wings instead
Year: 2025
Time: 12 min
Sound: Yes
Theme: Experimental surrealism
Author: Puchau
Edition: 99 reels
Price: $365
Status: Acquired
Title: Good fortune, good torture
Year: 2026
Time: 13.3 min
Sound: Yes
Theme: Dreamlike surrealism
Launching December 2026
Edition: 99 reels
Price: $400
Status: Available – Upcoming
Upcoming films are announced here before release.
Availability status are listed with each film.
* The «Price» tag indicates the original price. Early editions are no longer available and may acquire collector value on the secondary market.
Please do not publish, post, share, or distribute any shorts, clips, or films from PUCHAU Films ONLINE, in whole or in part.
THE PROCESS
Each film follows a physical, photochemical workflow from exposure to projection. Image and sound begin as separate elements: the image is photographed onto Kodak Vision3 motion-picture film, while the soundtrack is recorded onto magnetic tape. The two are then processed, edited and assembled by hand before the final release prints are made. No digital image capture, digital editing or a digital intermediate is used in the production of the physical films.
Recording: The image is photographed directly onto Kodak Vision3 Color Negative Film with a Nikon R10 Super 8 camera at 18 fps. Sound is recorded separately onto 1/4-inch magnetic tape with a Nagra III. Image and sound remain physically separate until the editing stage.
- Camera: Nikon R10
- Lens: Cine-Nikkor Zoom f/1.4, 7–70mm (10x)
- Film Stock: Kodak Vision3
- Processing: ECN-2
- Format: Super 8
- Frame Rate: 18 fps
- Exposure: TTL Servo EE metering with man compensation (±2 stops)
- Focus: Manual with split-image rangefinder (1.2m to infinity)
- Shutter: Variable shutter (0° to 160°) for exposure control
- Internal Filter: 85A daylight conversion filter
- Automatic Zoom: Two speeds (5 and 9 seconds), plus manual control
- Transitions: Automatic fade-in/fade-out and lap dissolve
- Sound Recorder: Nagra III
- Recording Medium: 1/4-inch magnetic tape
- Sync System: Clapperboard/slate double-system synchronization
- Recording Speed: 7.5 ips
- Post-production Sync: Frame-accurate alignment of slate marks during editing
Processing: Before editing can begin, the exposed camera negative must be processed. The Kodak Vision3 film is sent for ECN-2 development, producing the colour negative from the exposed material.
The processed negative is then printed onto positive film to create a workprint. This workprint is the physical editing copy: it can be cut, assembled and spliced without altering the original camera negative.
Editing: The picture is edited by hand on the positive workprint using traditional film-editing techniques. The workprint is cut, assembled and spliced physically until the final structure is locked.
The magnetic sound recording is edited separately in parallel, using physical tape editing, splicing, sync pulses and cue marks. Once picture and sound are locked, the two elements are synchronized frame by frame through double-system editing.
Laboratory: Once the edit is locked, the original camera negative is cut and conformed shot by shot according to the approved workprint.
The conformed negative is then used to produce an answer print, allowing image density, colour timing and continuity to be checked before the final release prints are made.
The magnetic sound master is synchronized with the final image and transferred to the magnetic stripe of each release print, allowing the image and soundtrack to be reproduced together on a sound-capable Super 8 projector.
LIMITED EDITION AND COLLECTION
Each film is released in a limited edition of exactly 99 numbered projection prints, each signed.
Every reel includes a certificate of authenticity, a numbered production dossier, a custody booklet and one original frame from the production negative, taken from the same Kodak Vision3 stock used during filming.
Once the 99 reels are gone, they are gone permanently. No reprints. No later special editions. Never, ever.
ARCHIVE AND DOCUMENTATION
Each film is documented by stock, roll, take and frame. The archive includes production records, the workprint, laboratory notes, correspondence, sound elements, unused material and final printing elements.
These materials are catalogued separately as a physical record of the film and its production history. The archive is private. It is not digitised, published or open to consultation.
EXHIBITION FORMAT
PUCHAU Films exists as a collection of physical Super 8 reels. You need a sound-capable Super 8 projector to watch these films.
They are not distributed as digital files and are not intended for playback on televisions, computers or other digital devices.
Viewing PUCHAU Films is a conscious act: threading the reel onto the projector, adjusting the focus, listening to the mechanical advance of the film and hearing the sound. Cinema becomes an event in itself: not simply an image to consume, but a physical experience that must be prepared, witnessed and remembered.
DURABILITY AND LEGACY
Motion-picture film is a highly durable physical medium. Under stable, cool, dry and dark archival conditions, acetate-based film can remain usable for a century or more, while polyester-based film may endure for several centuries under favourable archival conditions. Its longevity depends on storage conditions, handling and periodic inspection, but properly preserved film can remain accessible long after many consumer recording formats have become difficult to read, access or reproduce.
The PUCHAU Films collection is conceived as a permanent physical archive: a tangible record made to be preserved, projected and passed from one generation to the next. Each edition is both a film and a collectible object, created to retain its material and cultural value over time.
RELEASE NOTIFICATIONS
No newsletters. No regular updates. No promotional emails.