IN this year's three programmes of shorts screened in the Irish Cinema Showcase at the IFC, the production values and standards of scripting and directing were also an improvement on previous years. A mixture of dramas and documentaries, many of these films came from the Dun Laoghaire College of Art's film department. Of particular note were: Pips, directed by Naoise Barry - a very accomplished, witty, period piece that has already won him an award; Michele Manahan's Shades, which nicely dramatises the peer pressures of adolescence; Peter McKenna's drama of family secrets, Bovine, which was produced with an RTE/Film Base award, and Gaelic Girls, a well observed documentary about the lives and footballing prowess of young Irish women who have emigrated to Sydney, made with a light touch by Enda Murray.