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⚠️ Content Warning: CW: Implied parental death. Heavily implied Holocaust references.

⚠️ content warning

Item#: 8445

Containment Class: safe

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: vlam

Risk Class: warning

Special Containment Procedures: All instances of SCP-8445 are to be kept in a standard non-humanoid containment chamber located at Site 09. Due to the info-hazardous properties of all SCP-8445 instances, personnel are not to view the any original versions of them. Full digitization attempts are still ongoing, and currently only a few instances have been successfully digitized. Furthermore digitized instances may be viewed at an individual's own discretion, however personnel are advised to refrain from doing so if prone to uneasiness and/or squeamishness.

Attempts are still ongoing to locate any remaining instances of SCP-8445, private film collections, museums, and independent cinemas are to be considered priority search locations. Should it be suspected that at least one civilian viewed an SCP-8445 instance either in its entirety, MTF Nu-19 "Dans La Lune," is to apprehend, and administer Class-A amnestics to any effected individual(s).

Description: SCP-8445 is the current collective designation for six canisters containing standard 8mm film, dated from between 1933 to 1946, however at least four additional unique films are believed to exist. SCP-8445 instances can be viewed on any 8mm projector, and do not require any special care or handling other than that of typical 8mm or similar film reels. SCP-8445 instances differ from non-anomalous film reels in that they are considerably more durable and can sustain damage that would otherwise render standard film partially or completely destroyed.1

Despite the earliest known instance of SCP-8445 having been created at a time when sound in films would not have been considered uncommon, all instances2 are without sound, including Foley, music, spoken dialogue, and ambient noise. Furthermore, the cinematography of several SCP-8445 instances appears extremely amateurish, often involving poor use of practical effects, and acting that appears to be stilted, or otherwise unprofessional. This has been attributed to low budgets, however this does often result in the viewer expressing feelings of unease or discomfort, whether these are secondary anomalous effects or merely reactions to the poor production quality is currently unknown.

SCP-8445 instances can be viewed in part without causing any anomalous effects, however viewing any instance in full will typically cause the individual(s) who viewed it to develop extreme ideological beliefs based on the instance viewed, this can range from anything from distrust of authority, the desire to commit acts of petty vandalism, the desire to sabotage government property, and even to the desire to commit acts of terrorism. These effects however are temporary and typically subside within one to two weeks, although subsequent viewings of the same instance will prolong the effects and cause current extremist ideological beliefs to intensify.

A comprehensive list of all SCP-8445 instances currently in containment can be found below.

Current Designation: SCP-8445-1

Title: Als sie in den Krieg Zogen (When They Went to War).

Date Produced: 1933.

Duration: 60 minutes.

Plot: The film follows a young boy in what appears to be Germany or Poland. Throughout the film he is constantly shown either avoiding anything mentioning a current unseen war, or even outright running from soldiers clad in uniforms resembling those used by the German army in WW1. At several points the boy removes a photograph of a man, presumably his father, from his pocket, only to quickly shove it back in. The conclusion of the film involves a series of soldiers with varying degrees of injuries being escorted off a train, the boy is handed a single black flower, the boy proceeds to weep.

Anomalous Effect(s): Severe distrust in the military and a desire to vandalize any public displays in favor of the military.

Discovery: SCP-8445-1 was discovered in a small, privately owned movie theater in Wichita Kansas in 1967, following a protest against the Vietnam war.

Notes: Inside the film canister was a single, faded photograph of a young boy standing next to a man in a WW1 era German uniform, both are standing in front of a train station. Written on the back were the words, "Ludwig Sofer (40), Albrecht Sofer (7), 1916."

Current Designation: SCP-8445-2

Title: Die Prinzessin und Das Pony (The Princess and The Pony).

Date Produced: 1936.

Duration: 60 minutes.

Plot: The film follows a young girl and her horse who live together in a harmonious medieval kingdom. The king, an elderly rotund man, is shown to care for his subjects, but he is also shown to be naive and gullible. Food quickly becomes scarce in the kingdom, and the king is shown speaking with a skeletal cloaked wizard in an attempt to solve the famine. The wizard later tricks the king into relinquishing his crown before he causes an army of demonic soldiers to chase the princess away from the kingdom. The princess manages to evade the soldiers, however her horse is killed in the process, and she is mortally wounded. The film's conclusion sees the princess come across an apple tree, where she proceeds to pick the lowest hanging apple, which she eats. The princess is seemingly transformed into an identical horse to the one killed, she then glances back at the kingdom before running as far from it as possible.

Anomalous Effect(s): Severe distrust in political figures promising change, or "new" ideas.

Discovery: SCP-8445-2 was discovered in the storage room of a Los Angeles movie theater in 1968, approximately a week after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

Notes: Inside the film canister was a single photograph of a young man with a young woman, and a single tarnished engagement ring. Written on the back of the photo are the words "Albrecht Sofer, (26) 1935." Notably both the woman's face and name were crudely, but completely scratched out.

Current Designation: SCP-8445-3

Title: Der Temple des Ozymandias (The Temple of Ozymandias).

Date Produced: 1936.

Duration: 90 minutes.

Plot: Much more abstract, and surreal than previous films, the plot seems to follow an Egyptian pharaoh who builds several grand temples of himself out of the remains of subjects who refuse to praise him adequately. Much of the film's run time is devoted to the pharaoh surveying his temples, the construction of them, and engaging in various debaucherous acts. The film's climax involves the remains in the temples spontaneously reanimating before dragging the pharaoh into the awaiting jaws of a lion while the temples collapse around him.

Anomalous Effect(s): The near uncontrollable desire to vandalize or sabotage government property perceived as excessive or vain.

Discovery: SCP-8445-3 was discovered in 1938 in Lakehurst Maxfield Field, New Jersey. Notably the film canister was half buried in the dirt, and was heavily charred.

Notes: Despite the damage sustained by the canister, the film remained otherwise intact. However any remaining items in the canister were burned beyond all recognition. All that could be recovered was a single burnt postcard depicting the Alps, the initials A.S could be found on the back, although it remains unclear if these belonged to the sender or the recipient.

Current Designation: SCP-8445-4

Title: Das Restaurant Der Narren (The Fools' Restaurant).

Date Produced: Unknown, likely 1938.

Duration: 90 minutes.

Plot: A man identified only as Puig arrives by train to an unknown city populated entirely by clowns. Puig is shown to be disturbed, and irritated by the clowns who seem to stalk him throughout the city. Eventually, he reaches a hotel where he attempts to rest for the night, a dream sequence shows him that the city was originally populated by regular people, then eventually people and clowns, then finally only clowns. Puig awakes from his nightmare extremely shaken and visibly distressed, in an attempt to calm himself he goes for a walk throughout the now pitch black city. He eventually reaches a restaurant that is still open, inside he is sat a table by clown waitstaff and is given a large plate of meat and vegetables. Although initially suspicious, he eventually consumes the meal and becomes visibly euphoric as a result. Puig ventures into the kitchen where he asks the chef where the meal came from, the chef, a portly clown dressed entirely in brown, points to a corpse on one of the counters. The corpse is naked and is missing a large portion of flesh from its body. Puig is at first distraught, before he begins to smile, and eventually laugh hysterically. The film concludes with a second man arriving in the city, and a clown resembling Puig watching him from the distance.

Anomalous Effect(s): Extreme distrust in popular political ideas, as well as compulsion to regard both those who follow the ideas, and the ideas themselves, as foolish and disturbing.

Discovery: SCP-8445-4 was first discovered in the basement of an Austrian library in 1984. Notably it had been placed in a box labeled as "The films of Albrecht Sofer." SCP-8445-4 was the only instance recovered.

Notes: The film canister contained a photograph of two unknown individuals standing in front of a book store. One of the individuals had been defaced to resemble a clown. Writing on the back of the photograph read, "Albrecht and Töricht. What a fool you've become old friend."

Current Designation: SCP-8445-5

Title: Unser Zerstörtes Königreich (Our Destroyed Kingdom).

Date Produced: Unknown, likely late 1940 or early 1941.

Duration: 30 minutes.

Plot: Seemingly a continuation of SCP-8445-2, an unnamed man lives in a kingdom populated entirely by peasants and towering knights in dark armor. The knights subjugate the peasants and frequently beat, or even kill them at the slightest provocation. The man seeing the state of the kingdom, shoves a letter, presumably written by the man's family, into his pocket before setting off on foot for the neighboring kingdom. The man manages to reach the kingdom where he is welcomed with open arms. He lives in relative peace for a period of several days before the knights arrive at the kingdom and begin to subjugate the population. The man is savagely beaten and the film abruptly ends with a shot of the man's letter being splattered with blood.

Anomalous Effect(s): Extreme aversion to mob mentality, and the desire to harm or otherwise hinder those that the subject perceives as falling victim to highly popular political ideas.

Discovery: SCP-8445-5 was discovered in 1994 in a private film collection in Warsaw, Poland.

Notes: The production value of SCP-8445-5 was much lower compared to previous instances, both actors and set design seemed to be very unprofessional, and at times characters or settings would be represented by clay models positioned in forced-perspective shots. Additionally, the film canister contained several folded papers, and a heavily weathered and yellowed armband with three non-parallel lines on its center. The papers appeared to be travel applications to the United States, Switzerland, England, and Poland. All but the one for Poland were marked as rejected.

Current Designation: SCP-8445-6

Title: Der Sieg Deutschlands (The Victory of Germany).

Date Produced: 1943.

Duration: 45 minutes.

Plot: SCP-8445-6 does not follow a traditional plot structure and instead focuses on 40s era German ideals. Throughout the film soldiers are seen marching through the streets in what appears to be Berlin, or Vienna. The film cuts several times to show German scientists working on technological or chemical inventions, while both diligently and efficiently going about their work. Near the end of the film a young girl and a young boy are chased by caricatures of American, British, and Russian soldiers before narrowly escaping into the Reichstag building from which several German soldiers emerge. The caricatures upon seeing them either flee or surrender instantly, the soldiers then beckon the children outside and reassure them while the film cuts to black. The film then displays several messages that promise both the defeat of the Allied Nations, and the immortality of the German people.

Anomalous Effect(s): Extreme if not complete belief and allegiance towards both fascism and fascist ideals.

Discovery: SCP-8445-6 was first discovered during a raid on a GRU Division-P facility in 1983. It is believed that the personnel present were attempting to transfer onto VHS tape while modifying it's anomalous effects to make communism and Soviet ideology more palatable to citizens in the Soviet Union.

Notes: SCP-8445-6's canister contained a single photograph, depicting a disheveled man dressed in ragged clothing awkwardly shaking hands with a clean cut man dressed in a black leather overcoat. Notably the disheveled man seems to be leaning on one of his legs more than the other, and he is not making eye contact with the man opposite him. Written on the back of the photograph were the words, "Albrecht Sofer, and Herr Schlosser. May our work together bring a stronger future."

Addendum: In 2010 one final instance of SCP-8445 was discovered in the basement of a museum in Warsaw, Poland. Initially believed to have originated from a different filmmaker due to the different plot structure, lack of anomalous effects, and overall cinematography, it was later strongly suspected to have been created by the same filmmaker as the previous instances. Despite not possessing any clear anomalous effects it has been designated as SCP-8445-7. Its description can be found below.

Current Designation: SCP-8445-7

Title: Koniec Koszmaru (The End of the Nightmare).

Date Produced: 1954.

Duration: 60 minutes.

Plot: A young boy is shown lying in his bed before suddenly awakening in a near panic, presumably from a nightmare. A man, heavily implied to be the boy's father, rushes into his room, and quickly reassures his son before reading him a bedtime story. The following morning, the boy and father go about their usual routine including visiting the post office, the grocer, and buying a bouquet of flowers to surprise the boy's mother, who remains unseen throughout the film. The film's conclusion involves the father presenting a birthday cake to the boy and reassures him that although things can seem uncertain, one must hold out hope that the future is bright.

Anomalous Effect(s): N/A.

Discovery: SCP-8445-7 was first discovered in the basement of a museum in Warsaw, Poland. The film had been carefully wrapped in a protective sheet, and placed in a vault with other artifacts. It had been labeled as, "The last known film of Albrecht Sofer."

Notes: The film's canister contained a single photograph of a man dressed in casual attire slightly leaning on a cane, next to him is a young boy holding a broken antique film camera, both appear to be standing in front of a beach or lake. Written on the back of the photo were the words, "Albrecht Sofer (45), Ludwig Sofer (7), 1954. All is well."

Footnotes

1. This includes but is not limited to: Fire. Water. Smoke. Radiation.

2. excluding SCP-8445-6