Ferrania: the film factory and the museum

The Ferrania factory

The film factory was founded in 1917 under the name FILM (Fabbrica Italiana Lamine Milano), with the participation of the Pathé brothers. After the war Ferrania film became a reference for Italian cinema and photography: its best-known products include Ferraniacolor and the black-and-white P30 film. In 1964 the plant passed to 3M, which turned it into Ferrania 3M. Part of the site is now an industrial area.

Photographic production stopped in 2009 and in 2012 198 of the 230 film workers were laid off. In 2013 FILM Ferrania was born, restarting from a small part of the plant with a research laboratory and a smaller coating line. In 2014 a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign raised over 320,000 dollars; the P30 film came out in a provisional version in 2017 and a final version in 2019. Other emulsions followed (Orto, P33). In April 2025 it was announced that the company had been acquired by Jake Seal, owner of the ORWO brand, with a commitment to continue production. These facts are reported by Wikipedia and the trade press; for the company’s current status, its official website is what counts.

The Ferrania Film Museum

The museum is in Palazzo Scarampi, a 17th-century building in the centre of Cairo that also houses the town library. It opened only a few years ago (sources say 2017 or 2018) after the restoration of the palace, which the municipality had bought shortly before 2014. The visit goes room by room: the factory, chemistry, the after-work club, company culture, advertising, film testing, products and a model room. There are cameras, equipment, posters, photographs and multimedia screens.

The museum also covers the X-ray division, the era of colour and the relationship with cinema. The rooms follow an ordered route, from the factory to the products.

Hours and ticket

Here the sources contradict each other. A museum listing from October 2025 gives opening Thursday to Saturday from 9 to 18 with a ticket of a few euros; another speaks of different days and hours. There is no official source confirming the 2026 hours, and there is more than one telephone number cited online. The contact shown on the museum’s website is ferraniafilmmuseum@gmail.com: write there, or look at the museum website. Don’t travel far without confirmation.

The workers' village and the abbey

Ferrania is not just the factory. Around the plant there was a workers’ village, with an after-work club: the museum devotes part of its route to it. Ferrania also has the abbey founded in 1097, now the church of Santi Pietro e Paolo, and a railway station. Walking through the village is a way to understand how a factory shaped a place.

Can you visit the factory?

Not on a regular basis. Guided visits to FILM Ferrania have been held during events, for example at the EMULSIONI Festival of 22–24 May 2026, booking by email; in September 2026 a festival dedicated to film was held at Ferrania. Outside these occasions we found no public admission schedule: the area is a production site, not an open park. If you are interested, follow the notices of the museum and the local associations.

How to get there

The museum is in the centre of Cairo: from Cairo Montenotte station (Alessandria–Acqui Terme–Savona line) it is a few minutes on foot. For Ferrania go by car, or by train to Ferrania station: check the timetable on Trenitalia. From the coast, Savona is about 20 km away; from there you set off by car or train. For the rest of your day see the guide to Cairo Montenotte.