Documentary Hub Focuses on Success

An unlikely mix of weightlifting pensioners, Jedis, and one corner of the University has changed Scottish film culture. Since it was founded eight years ago, the Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI) has produced more than 50 films from its home within Edinburgh College of Art (ECA). Ranging in length from eight minutes to one hour, created by both students and professionals, the documentaries have captured everything from wind turbines and premonitions of death to bread makers and abandoned villages. Two of the most notable films from the SDI includes Ma Bar, the story of 73-year old bench presser Bill McFayden from Stranraer, and At Home With The Jedi, about a family who practice the Jedi 'religion'. Ambitions fulfilled. The Institute was founded with the ambition of creating a dynamic documentary scene in Scotland. It hoped to encourage more film makers to embrace a medium pioneered by Scots such as John Grierson.