Film Washi film

The Story of Washi Film

Washi Film was founded in 2013 by Lomig Perrotin, a self-taught French film enthusiast who began experimenting with film-making in a Paris flat before relocating production to a garage, and later to a set of decommissioned French Army containers in Brittany, France. It remains an essentially one-person operation, producing around 18,000 rolls a year, tiny by industry standards, but fiercely dedicated to genuine craft.

What makes Washi unusual is that its signature "W" film is genuinely hand-coated in-house, using a light-sensitive emulsion applied to Japanese washi or gampi paper rather than a conventional plastic film base. Its other specialist stocks take a different, equally unconventional approach: repurposing existing base materials such as cinema soundtrack film, infrared aerial-survey film and X-ray film, which are cut, perforated and spooled by hand into usable 35mm, 120 and large format rolls.

Washi Film's Camera Film Ranges

Washi "W" is the brand's flagship paper-based black and white film, available in ISO 25 and 100, prized for its soft, painterly texture unlike any conventional emulsion. Washi "S" is derived from cinema soundtrack film stock, while Washi "X" repurposes X-ray film for high-contrast, grainy black and white images.

Washi "F" and Washi "Z" continue the brand's experimental streak, and several of its stocks are sourced from decommissioned infrared aerial-surveillance film, originally designed for vegetation and land surveys, now repurposed for creative infrared-style photography.

Choosing the Right Washi Film

For a genuinely unique, textured black and white look, Washi "W" is the film to try first. Photographers chasing high-contrast, gritty results should look at Washi "X", while those wanting an unconventional infrared aesthetic should explore the brand's surveillance-derived stocks. Because these are genuinely small-batch, handmade films, expect some variation between rolls, part of the charm. Compare Washi film prices on Filmproof.