A film capturing the history of the former Strathmartine Hospital is to feature at the UK’s biggest documentary festival.
Breaking Down the Walls includes interviews with former residents and staff at the former facility.
Extracts have been selected as part of the Meetmarket Specials Board, a film pitching initiative at the Sheffield festival running from today until Wednesday.
Filmed by Iain Mitchell, Breaking Down the Walls was one of 40 projects shortlisted from more than 500 applications to join the initiative. The documentary was filmed as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Strathmartine Hospital Histories project, led by Thera Trust.
Ten minutes of the documentary will be screened to an audience at Sheffield’s Channing Hall as part of a live feedback session on Saturday.
The festival will also provide an opportunity to meet funders who may be interested in supporting a feature documentary on how people’s lives have changed since moving out of institutions.
Iain said: “I had the question, do these stories from Strathmartine Hospital have a wider audience? The answer has been a resounding yes.
“This is a really valuable opportunity to find out what people make of the film, when they have no prior knowledge or expectations of the topic.”
Iain has also been selected as part of the Scottish Delegation to Sheffield DocFest, a joint venture between Creative Scotland and the Scottish Documentary Institute.