The Hothouse of Australian Talent

Ali Ammouchi lies on the floor performing for fellow students, one arm pointing toward a sign saying “Dreams,” his face gazing up to another labeled “Reality.”

Ammouchi’s dream is Hollywood. His reality starts here, on the floor of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, known simply as NIDA.

A former drama teacher, the 27-year-old is following in illustrious footsteps.

“I told my students I was going to Mel Gibson’s old acting school to be a movie star--they laughed and said, ‘Yeah, sure, sir.’”

Ammouchi is one of 180 students at NIDA, established in Sydney in 1958 as a hothouse for young Australian talent hoping to burst onto the world scene as actors, directors, designers, playwrights and technicians.

NIDA graduates have won Emmys, Golden Globes and Oscars. And three alumni--”Moulin Rouge” director-producer Baz Luhrmann and the movie’s costume designers, Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie--are nominated for this year’s Oscars.

Several Australians who did not study at the school are also up for Oscars, including Nicole Kidman for best actress in “Moulin Rouge.”

Success in Hollywood has come to many other graduates, including Mel Gibson and Judy Davis (from NIDA’s class of 1977) and Cate Blanchett (1992). Geoffrey Rush, who won a best actor Oscar for 1996’s “Shine,” once taught there.

It would be difficult to find a production made in Australia today that doesn’t have a former NIDA student in its cast or crew. A survey conducted by the institute in 2000 found that 84% of its alumni still worked in the industry.

NIDA Director John Clark said the school’s “approach to acting is not dogmatic, it’s very open and it provides young people the whole range of ideas from which they can then choose and develop their own approach to the business.”

Just 25 students a year from across the nation are chosen from about 2,500 hopefuls.

In three years of study, they attend movement classes, voice coaching, singing lessons and rehearse and perform about 12 major productions that are open to the public.

The school recently spent $17 million on a new wing that includes a 700-seat theater, a sound stage for film and television training, a multimedia studio, a smaller theater and new rehearsal rooms. Gibson, who provides an annual scholarship for NIDA students, donated $1 million toward it.

It’s anticipated that the investment will pay off with continued waves of Australian talent exported to Hollywood.

Ammouchi wants to ride those waves, and his plan sounds disarmingly simple.

“Do a film in Australia, get respected, get recognized and maybe do a couple of Hollywood blockbusters,” Ammouchi said. “It’s been a childhood dream of mine.”