Reality is Not Enough: World premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival
July 14, 2025Paul Sng’s new feature documentary ‘Reality Is Not Enough’ has been chosen as this year’s closing gala at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, making it a world premiere on the 20th August 2025.
“I’m always impressed by the quality and efficiency of the Onsight team and they went above and beyond on Reality Is Not Enough. Emily’s stunning colour grade made the images on screen even more moving and the whole process was smooth and stress-free thanks to Cem and Andrew. My thanks also to Julia and Tony for their support in enabling us to bring this film to life” – Paul Sng (Director and Producer)
The immersive documentary, directed and produced by Paul, reveals the inner world and outer life of Irvine Welsh, one of the most original and controversial writers of our times.
Over four decades across novels, screenplays and as a forthright, opinionated and outspoken media presence, the Trainspotting author has both celebrated and defined contemporary society and culture, whilst simultaneously exposing all of their many flaws.
In this intimate and personal documentary we meet the acclaimed writer at a crossroads, acutely aware of his mortality and accepting that his hedonistic days are drawing to a close, but still very much committed to new avenues of creativity and discovery.
On a book tour in Canada, Welsh chooses to explore the boundaries of consciousness by taking DMT at a Toronto drug therapy centre. The resulting hallucinogenic trip, illustrated within a kaleidoscopic imagined memory space, is interspersed with candid observational footage, cinematic archive, and novel excerpts to create a captivating piece of autobiographical cinema that gets to the beating heart of one of Scotland’s most vital creative voices.
The documentary was executive produced by Sarah Drummond of LS Productions with support from Screen Scotland. OnSight were delighted to work with Paul again on this latest project, after collaborating on his previous feature documentaries Tish and Year of the Dog. Providing picture finishing services and audio facilities, the OnSight team included Julia Veidt (Head of Documentary), Colourist Emily Russul Saib, Online Editor Andrew Fisun, Conform Editor Sam Langshaw, and the project was overseen by Post Producer Cem Kilinchan.
