ALUMNI TESTIMONIALS

Sarah Flanagan

Graduate

ITC Short Film and Factual TV Production

My name is Sarah Flanagan, and I graduated from Ballyfermot FET College in 2026 after completing a PLC in Short Film and TV Production.

After my Leaving Cert, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. That year had been incredibly difficult for me personally, and a family emergency affected my Leaving Cert points. I was looking for advice about what to do next, and I came across the idea of thinking back to what you loved most as a child.

For me, that was filmmaking.

I remembered making a full-length film with my friend using dolls at six years old, complete with ad breaks, and how much fun I had. On CAO day, I impulsively applied to the Short Film and TV Production course in Ballyfermot. Within 24 hours, I had a place.

I remember feeling nervous and, to be completely honest, a little embarrassed. A lot of my friends were moving on to university and starting impressive-sounding degrees, while I had to tell people I was doing a PLC. But from the day I started in Ballyfermot, I knew I belonged there.

For the first time in years, I felt like I was no longer playing a game based purely on points, grades and intelligence. I was in an environment where creativity mattered, and it came naturally to me.

I met brilliant teachers and made friends almost immediately. I studied alongside people of different ages and backgrounds, including those returning to education, which completely changed how I thought about what education was supposed to look like.

The course also let all my different interests overlap. I got to use my classical music background, while meeting Rock School students who helped loosen some of my very classical habits. I learned analogue photography and darkroom printing — skills my parents had learned years before me. I learned how to present in front of a camera, although I still hate being in front of one.

The TV modules also completely changed how I look at media. I now watch the news like it’s a summer blockbuster, noticing the cameras, the cuts, the lighting, the graphics, the pacing and how everything is being constructed. Once you learn how television is made, it becomes very hard to watch it normally again.

I learned filmmaking, editing, photography, scriptwriting, studio production and how to actually work creatively with other people.

But more than anything, that year helped me find myself again.

I came out of Ballyfermot with new skills, new friends, a much stronger sense of who I was, an increasingly analogue outlook on life, and, somehow, a vinyl collection.

Doing a PLC wasn’t the detour I thought it would be when I started. It became one of the most important years of my education.

Ian Fallon

Graduate

ITC Television & Digital Film

Television & Digital Film (ITC) student 2018-2019

In 2019 I completed the one year course in BCFE in Television and Digital Film (ITC). Prior to applying, I had little or no experience in this area and was unsure if I would like it, let alone see it as a possible future career. Luckily, with the great introduction the course provided in different areas of filmmaking, from screen writing to editing, television production and photography, I realised that I had found the career path for me.

With supportive, friendly and knowledgeable teaching, BCFE gave me a great foundation in the skills I need to communicate my stories and begin my journey into the industry. Some  highlights from the year were the end of year exhibition of our films and photography, taking part in script read-throughs and gaining invaluable teamwork experience.

I was able to use my ITC short film “Victim”, to successfully secure a place on the Film & Television Production course in IADT where I’m continuing my education. For the same film I was nominated in the ‘film under 5 minutes’ category for the Royal Television Society Student Awards 2020, for the Republic of Ireland. Given that this was my very first film, I was extremely pleased with the nomination, and am thankful to BCFE for providing me with these opportunities

Noel Aungier

HND in Film Production Student

ITC IFH Television and Digital Film

In 2015 I began my first course in BCFE in Television and Digital Film (ITC). It had been 15 years since I was last in full time education and as a mature student I was unsure how I would fare. The course gave me an introduction to many elements of film making, from photography and editing to screen writing and live TV production.

I found the teaching staff to be friendly, dedicated and highly skilled. BCFE gave me the skills needed to produce the stories I wanted to tell, and the skills I learnt enabled me to progress to the HND in Film Production (IFH).

Two of the highlights of my year were our end of year exhibition of our films and photography and being given the opportunity of producing a live studio piece in the college.

My first short film as Director/Writer film “Trixie” was selected by the college to represent BCFE in The Royal Television Society Awards for the Republic of Ireland and I am very pleased to have received the Student award for Best Comedy & Entertainment. It was an unbelievable moment and I will always be grateful to BCFE for giving me the skills and confidence to express my sense of humour visually and creatively.