AS a student at the New York Film Academy taking up a one-year crash course in filmmaking, I applied and was granted to be included in an exchange student program at London Film School on the basic course in filmmaking from a United Kingdom point of view. I have never been to the United Kingdom although my parents are both full Irish and Ireland has never been part of the current United Kingdom. We come from New Canaan, a very popular town in Connecticut which has been the subject of many episodes of Commander-in-Chief, Fools Rush In and Will and Grace.

I have long fascinated the United Kingdom film industry because it’s more prolific and can even compete with Hollywood mainstream. The best United Kingdom television series that I like is Spooks. Spooks is the United Kindgom’s answer to Hollywood’s The Unit. While the latter talks about a CIA covert team, Spooks tells about the dealings of MI5, the same unit where the famed James Bond is an agent of. Spooks – the television series – has been widely criticized by human rights groups in the United Kingdom and in the United States and Canada as well (where it is also airing) because of the highly unconventional methods MI5 is using which are bordering on the illicit but I believe that Spooks merely expresses what the filmmakers think is true and does not necessarily represent the view of the government of the United Kingdom.

Another thing that I like in the United Kingdom film industry is its constant portrayal of River Thames as backdrop. Although films such as Thunderbirds, National Treasure: Book of Secrets and Rise of the Silver Surfer are Hollywood productions, their portrayal of River Thames in London is fascinating. In Thunderbirds for instance, the beautiful Tintin played by a then 13-year-old Vanessa Anne Hudgens jumps to River Thames to rescue passengers from a monorail which had fallen down deep into the river. In Rise of the Silver Surfer, Jessica Alba who plays the Invisible Woman has to hold the London Eye all by herself so it can’t fall down on River Thames. In National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Nicolas Cage’s character has to throw away a relic to the River Thames to detract his opponents.

Still another thing that fascinates me in the United Kingdom film industry is its portrayal of James Bond. This early, I cannot already wait to see Quantum of Solace, the next James Bond installment starring Daniel Craig. But beyond that, I’m really craving to study how British film directors such as Guy Richie and Danny Boyle strut their stuff. I also admire how adept film actresses such as Keira Knightley and Kate Winslet are in throwing their performances. Beyond Pride and Prejudice and beyond Atonement, Keira Knightley has already carved herself a niche in the British film industry by making films such as The Hole. Gee, I’m already salivating learning all about the movie and television productions there.