World premiere of Paul Sng documentary to close Edinburgh International Film Festival

Huge shout out to Stern & Wild filmmaker Paul Sng on the news his fantastic Irvine Welsh feature documentary Reality Is Not Enough will premiere as the closing night film at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The immersive film offers a glimpse into the mind of the prolific author and artist Irvine Welsh as he embarks on what is described as ‘a wild new journey exploring the boundaries of consciousness’. It uses both contemporary and archive footage, conversations, music and personal reminiscence to explore themes of class, mortality, creativity and identity in Welsh’s work, and features readings from his novels by actors and artists including Nick Cave, Stephen Graham, Liam Neeson, Ruth Negga and Maxine Peake.

Paul comments: “When I read Trainspotting as a teenager in London back in the nineties, I had no idea I would one day live in the city where the book is set, let alone make a film with its author, Irvine Welsh. Having our world premiere in our home city is a huge honour and we're looking forward immensely to sharing the film with the EIFF audience.”

Reality Is Not Enough will be released in the UK by Kaleidoscope. It was financed and produced by Edinburgh-based production company LS Films, with the support of Screen Scotland. Sarah Drummond is Executive Producer, while Paul is Writer, Director and Producer.

This year’s festival runs from 14-20 August 2025. To read more, click here.

Photo: Chris McCluskie