Just finished four days of training at Filmbase doing a Camera & Lighting course. It’s been a long time since I have had such pleasure learning something, not since college in London, five or six years ago, doing my MA.

Dubliner Raja Nundlall is one of those special teachers who make their enthusiasm and passion for their subject infectious, apparently effortlessly. Self-deprecating and yet knowledgeable, he made it fun, and shared his love of film, his creativity, and his practical nous with us. Happily non-academic, he’s the sort of teacher who is worth their weight in gold, because at the end I felt I got what I came for – and more. It all seemed do-able in the end. Luckily, there were only four of us in the group this time around, which meant we each had a camera to play with and in our last project, a little video, we each had a go at everything.

It was my first time in Filmbase, and as an introduction to the organization it could not have been better. Obviously, there’s something really vigorous and healthy about the place. I’ll be back.