IT might be a long way from Hereford to Hollywood but tinseltown is just that bit closer for a group of students.

It is thanks to their successful participation in the inaugural BFI Film Academy which seeks to train talented and dedicated 16 to 19 year olds – or the next generation of British film-makers.

And 10 students from Hereford Sixth Form College won places on the West Midland regional academy programme, which combined practical and technical workshops at Hereford’s Rural Media Company.

There were master-classes from industry luminaries such as Tony Lawson, editor of Straw Dogs and Michael Collins, and Esther May Campbell, director of Wallander and Skins.

The culmination of the programme was a special screening of the students’ short films at The Courtyard as part of the Borderlines Film Festival.

Three of the participants, former student Becky Doctor, second-year student Flo Knoyle and first-year student Ben Harrison, were selected from hundreds of applicants to attend the first ever national Film Academy residential film-making course at the National Film and Television School.

It is hoped that even more Hereford students will take up the opportunity when the BFI Academy is repeated next year.