MANILA, Philippines - Fresh, exciting and provocative digital movies continue to be made, energizing the recovering but still struggling local film scene. But, many of them continue to have a hard time recovering their investment, let alone turning a profit, thus making it difficult for their makers to come up with follow-up projects.

The main problem is, due to lack of star value, non-mainstream themes and occasionally muggy technicals, many digital features have a hard time getting to mainstream theaters, where the major potential audience is.

Due to some traditional theater circuits? less than welcoming reception, indies have tried to create their own markets and viewing situations. Which of them have worked?

Welcome venue

The UP Film Center has provided a welcome venue for digital movies. And some indie filmmakers are happy that the Robinsons cinema chain has designated its IndieSine theaters for digital features.

SM cinemas also occasionally screen indies like the current ?Endo,? a grantee in last year?s Cinemalaya. Other past Cinemalaya grantees that have also done well on limited mainstream release include ?Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros? and ?Tribu.?

But these relative successes are only a drop in the bucket, so other schemes have to be worked out to help more indie productions end up in the black.

Our main suggestion has been for indie filmmakers to plug into the school circuit, as many theater productions have done. However, indie producers who have tried this route have encountered problems like difficulty in convening school officials and faculty to cooperate, poor ticket sales and insufficient income.

Clearly, for the school film circuit to work, teachers and student organizations have to develop a much more visionary attitude towards the valuable role that indies can play in the enlightened development of the country?s youth, and of Filipinos in general.

Pending this key illumination, indies have to come up with other schemes?and they have. However, some of them have been sex-oriented, in order to generate interest and excitement, and thus drew viewers in.

Specifically, a number of them have focused on gay themes, relationships and ultra-bold presentational styles, which have attracted niche audiences but could turn off others.

Unified approach

Most schemes are welcome as long as they work. But, what indie producers really need is a unified approach that will help as many more of them.

Suggestions include: A limited circuit of small indie movie houses?one each in Manila, Makati, Quezon City, Parañaque and Alabang, to start with. Some art houses have done well in Metro Manila in the past, and if a good number of film buffs support this new scheme, it could just be what the digital doctor ordered.

Or, the scheme could be reversed, with ?screens on wheels? travelling to different viewing sites. This has been tried in some provinces, mainly to plug commercial products, but it could be adapted to help indies turn a profit.

A third approach would be for indie producers to convince a TV channel to screen their new movies at an affordable rate. The producers would then sell commercial spot replacements and thus earn from their features? advertising proceeds.

Are these approaches, or a combination of them, worth trying? Do you have suggestions? Share them with us, as our digital filmmakers need movie buffs? help to see the light at the end of the alternative film tunnel.

?Fool?s Gold?

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, who first co-starred in ?How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days,? are reunited in ?Fool?s Gold.? In the film, Ben (McConaughey) is a modern-day treasure hunter who?s obsessed with finding the legendary 18th-century Queen?s Dowry?40 chests of priceless treasure lost at sea in 1715. In his quest, Ben has sunk everything, including his marriage to Tess (Hudson).

Just as Tess has begun to rebuild her life, however, Ben convinces her billionaire boss, Nigel (Donald Sutherland) to join him in his search for the sunken treasure. And, even Tess can?t resist the lure of finally uncovering the treasure that has eluded them for so long.