One boy wonder in the first wave of graduates from Participate Film Academy has already made two more appearances on cinema screens, since his class production premiered in May 2007.

Rahel Abdul Rahman was just 13 when he enrolled at Participate as an aspiring actor hoping to have a crack at a big-screen performance. He joined 120 other film novices in the school's first intake of students, who all learnt how to make a movie – then made not one, but two – during the course. Rahel played the part of Deepak in Battle Therapy Too.

This intense production experience helped to prepare Rahel for his next feature role as Mo, in the Australian movie, The Combination. Rahel nailed the audition and was the only actor among the cast of fresh talent who had been in a feature film before.

"I had a good character to play," he says. "It's not a lead role, but I am seen a lot. It was great to be a part of something that hasn't been done before." The Combination, about a Lebanese-Australian gang in western Sydney, invites us to 'Come and see the real Australia'.

Rahel has also appeared in a short film that gained three AFI award nominations, The Ground Beneath, and reached the top three from over a thousand NSW hopefuls in a Neighbours talent quest.

"I've joined an agency and I take an acting class once a week. There's always more to learn." Rahel is still at school too, in year 11. "I kind of balance it out. It's kind of easy if you're diligent." Go, Rahel!

Participate is all about gaining real experience that will open doors to a career in the industry. Even the complete beginner is offered a place in our course and the chance to take part in making a full-length, professional-grade feature film.

Find out more about The Combination.