German film brand ORWO has announced Wolfen NP100, its latest ISO 100 black and white film stock. This is the company’s first new film since its parent company, Filmotech, merged with fellow German film producer InovisCoat back in 2020, and the first professionally finished film launched by the company in 50 years.

ORWO says the limited-edition NP100 was designed in response to seeing still photographers continue to shoot with unexposed rolls of original ORWO Black and White film, even though the film had expired back in the 1970s. Increased interest from the black and white community inspired the company to create a limited run of 36,000 36-exposure cassettes.

The film is being manufactured at the original factory built by AGFA in Bitterfeld-Wolfen Germany, which has been producing photography film since 1910.

ORWO describes Wolfen as ‘an exceptionally fine grain 100 ASA, 36 exposure, the black and white photographic film’ whose name is a nod back to ORWO’s beginnings in the 1960s when the company was formed after the split of AGFA following World War II.

The Wolfen NP100 film differs from the current WOLFEN UN54 film in that it has an additional dyed antihalation layer, positioned between the base material and the emulsion layer, which is designed to prevent the formation of a reflection halo, thereby improving image sharpness. The company also has plans to release a faster Wolfen NP400 version of the film.

Here are some sample pictures taken by photographer Doreen Böhnke: