Scottish Documentary Institute

Soon after her ‘big break’, Italian actress Nadya Cazan disappeared. Ottica Zero follows Nadya from her rejection of the monetary-based system to find an alternative way of living. It is a journey which takes us from Rome to Venus, where social innovator and futurist, Jacques Fresco, proposes a solution.

A palpably rendered audiovisual essay draws together the distinct sensibilities of filmmakers Peter Mettler (The End of Time) and Emma Davie (I am Breathing) and philosopher David Abram (The Spell of the Sensuous) to forge a path into the places where humans and animals meet.

How has science impacted on our perception of God?

Breathing is about the thin space between life and death. 34-year-old Neil Platt plans his own funeral, muses about the meaning of life and the impossibility of terminating a mobile phone contract. With 5 months left to live, and paralyzed from the neck down by Motor Neurone Disease, he ponders how to communicate about his life in a letter for his baby son. How can he anticipate what he might want to know about his father in a future he can only imagine?

This rare and intimate portrait explores a young woman’s perspective about living with albinism – a condition which has often made her an outsider – who is determined to lead a normal life.

Anne Wallace once had a dream to help Glasgow's street working women. Soon after, a double-decker bus materialised along with the Ministry of Salt and Light.

Through the interspecies gaze we observe one of the most ancient and highly honoured dog breeds, the Saluki. Guiding us in love, preparing us in death and transforming us in life.

A young Ugandan goat herder dreams of being able to read and write but must oppose his elders.

A unique point-of-view insight into a day in the life of Jimmy McIntosh, a wheelchair user living with cerebral palsy who on a daily basis fights for the rights of others.

Jodie lives and breathes motorcycling. But the road to reaching the top is paved with difficulties, if it wasn't for her dad's unwavering support.

Sean uses the Piano to navigate life on the Autistic Spectrum. As he is drawn into new musical collaborations he must learn to balance his enthusiasm and compulsive energy with understanding and compromise, redefining his perspective in the process.

In the Suburbs of a Scottish Town, the life of a family quietly revolves around one of their sons’ passion for football. 13 year old Darren plays youth football for a professional club but his annual ‘Review Night’ is approaching and the family are uncertain if he will remain signed. Mum, Yvonne, struggles with her son’s future and the impact that it will have on her family’s ritual of supporting him play every Sunday, their time, energy and countless hours standing in rain, snow and sunshine, and beyond. A beautiful and funny portrait between a mother and her teenage son.

A filmmaker based in Scotland travels to Caracas to investigate claims of a weeping statue of the Virgin Mary.

In post-revolution Libya, a group of women are brought together by one dream: to play football for their nation. But as the country descends into civil war and the utopian hopes of the “Arab Spring” begin to fade, can they realise their dream? And is there even a country left to play for? Freedom Fields is a film about hope and sacrifice in a land where dreams seem a luxury. Through the eyes of these accidental activists we see the reality of a country in transition, where the personal stories of love, struggle and aspirations collide with History.

A look at life in the so-called Banana Flats in Leith, Scotland - once the centre of the city's 1980s drug epidemic.

A look at the array of mysterious, quirky objects received by fashion designer Paul Smith and the effect they have had on his life.

When a Palestinian filmmaker based in Scotland unearths a rarely-seen Scottish film archive of Palestinian wild flowers, he decides to reclaim the footage. This tender film essay questions the role of image-making as a tool of both testimony and violence when connected to entanglements between people and the land.

A wind turbine development threatens a hunting estate in the Scottish Highlands.

How do you love in isolation? And live in absence? A woman and her daughter strive to answer these questions after a loved one is suddenly removed from their lives.

The true story of a group of factory workers in Scotland who stood up to a military dictatorship in Chile.