The Scottish Documentary Institute: documenting the real world

Documentary films were the subject of this week's newspaper column, specifically the work of the Edinburgh-based Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI), an organisation supporting documentary filmmakers in getting their work made and screened around the world.

Examples of the SDI's work are too numerous to list here, so instead I've decided to highlight three films I think are more entertaining than many big budget feature films in cinemas today.

First up is Peter in Radioland, winner of the Best Scottish Short Documentary award at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009. Johanna Wagner's film is about 63 year-old Peter, who spends most of his time alone in his house, contemplating his past. Little makes sense to him anymore in a digital world made up of zeros and ones. Comforted by his analogue radios, his memories and his loving wife, Peter is left yearning for the old days.



The next two films aren't available for embedding on this blog, so you'll need to head over to the SDI website to watch them - both are well worth a click.

2005's A Difficult Case is the story of a woman who owes her life to unseen angels and an eminent psychologist who was prepared to believe.

Finally, Sporran Makers takes us into Mr Scott’s traditional sporran workshop, which is under threat as he battles against cheap foreign imports.

To find more examples of the SDI's documentary work, head over to their Vimeo channel.