Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology has produced some of our brightest stars. Olivia Kelly reports

A strong commitment to practical film-making has seen the national diploma in film and video at the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology produce some of the leading lights of the Irish film industry. Among its recent glittering graduates it boasts Disco Pigs director Kirsten Sheridan and Kieron Walsh (When Brendan Met Trudy). Since September the school of film has a new jewel in its crown with the opening of its off-campus editing facility in Temple Bar.

"The Dún Laoghaire film school opened in 1984. It's the longest-established film course in the State and has been consistently educating people to work in the film industry," Aileen MacKeogh, head of the school of art, design and media, says. "The recent move into town allows us to use the Dún Laoghaire campus more as a training facility. Once students' skills mature they can book time in the production house in Temple Bar and work on highly professional machines."

The Dún Laoghaire students must book time on the state-of-the-art Avid (film editing) or Protools (sound editing) machines and work to strict deadlines, as they would have to when booking editing time in a private editing house.

"One of the strengths of the course is that it mirrors the film industry and film production. It's a very genuine experience which is of huge value when people are going into their first jobs in the industry," says MacKeogh.

The three-year diploma course is 80 per cent practical and 20 per cent academic. First-year students experience a wide range of film disciplines and learn the basic practical skills of film making. From the offset, students are emersed in the world of practical film-making working on individual projects, group projects and the films of the senior students as part of a complete film crew, albeit at a junior level.

In second year, students enter an area of specialisation while expanding upon their skills and knowledge, course co-ordinator Anne O'Leary says. "First year concentrates mainly on drama and fiction. In second year they start looking at other genres, looking at non-fiction and working with actors. They also choose a specialist area of production - they might be drawn to sound editing so they'd take up an assistant position on a third-year project."

Third-year students follow a personalised timetable in order to develop project work and their specialisation. Each student leaves the course with a show reel - a visual portfolio of their work. About 50 per cent of student then head out into the industry, while the others stay on for an extra year to complete the degree in film and video.

Although the course has had its high-profile successes particularly among the new breed of Irish directors, not everyone is going to be rich and famous. It's a notoriously competitive and hierarchical industry and success depends on talent, tenacity and a lot of luck.

"We do tell the students coming in that they have to be realistic," says O'Leary. "Out of 24 students how many directors could we possibly put out? We wouldn't deny anyone the opportunity to progress, but we'd be lucky to get four talented directors. Graduates have to be able to survive in an industry context, they have to be out there working otherwise, they'll be out of touch."

The industry demand is in the area of post-production, in editing film and video. This demand is being met by the new Temple Bar facility, where students work to professional standards on professional machines.

A third-level qualification isn't a prerequisite of the film industry. Some industry professional argue that since you may have to start right at the bottom anyway, a college course makes no difference. However, MacKeogh says: "Education won't guarantee a job, but you will move up more rapidly. Developing your creative force is the difference education makes."