MANILA, Philippines?It?s been five years since the launch of Cinemalaya, a digital film fest that set out to showcase and nurture fresh talents.

Some of the neophyte talents who thus found their voices have become familiar names even in the international film festival circuit: Auraeus Solito, Adolfo Alix Jr., Jim Libiran, Francis Xavier Pasion, Chris Martinez, among others. How far they have gone as ?graduates? is definitely one way to gauge the pioneering festival?s success.

Another measure is mainstream acceptance.

Five years ago, it would?ve been unthinkable for digital movies like ?Boses,? ?Jay,? ?100? and ?Concerto? to win in awards shows mounted by the local entertainment press.

This year, all the above-mentioned Cinemalaya 2008 entries figured prominently in the Enpress? Golden Screen Awards.

Cinemalaya officers themselves didn?t anticipate the fest?s growth spurt in its first half-decade.

The Cinemalaya movers and shakers?Tonyboy Cojuangco, Nestor Jardin, Laurice Guillen and Robbie Tan?granted this exclusive interview to Inquirer Entertainment, to take stock of the annual event?s gains and assess the ?tremendous? work that still lies ahead.

This year?s edition runs from July 17-26 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

How are the Cinemalaya entries so far?

Robbie Tan: The finalists are mostly in post-production now, editing their works.

What makes this year?s event different?

Nestor Jardin: When we started in 2005, we didn?t expect it to be an annual event. I think Cinemalaya has become an unqualified success on many fronts?including in terms of audience reception and feedback from critics here and abroad.

Did you imagine that it would grow this big?

Tonyboy Cojuangco: I want it to be bigger still! We?re patterning it after Sundance (independent film festival in the United States). Eventually, we want to have our own school, our own cable channel and distribution system.

How far are you from those goals?

TC: We currently have 40 films, plus the shorts, in our library. Hopefully, we can have films from other independent groups.

Do you have plans of opening the competition to entries from abroad?

NJ: Not in the near future. Our plan for next year is to introduce an Open Category. The Main Section will remain for new directors.

TC: The Open Category is for commercial, mainstream directors.

There?s a perception that Cinemalaya has gone mainstream and popular.

NJ: All the screenings at the CCP are packed, but it?s still not as big as the audience we want. Although I must say that the audience has risen exponentially in the last four years. In 2005, we had 8,000 people. In 2008, 29,000. We are looking forward to the day when we can have an audience outside CCP, like in the malls.

TC: But the limitation is... the Censors.

How about in schools?

NJ: That?s part of the plan. The more immediate goal is to set up a film distribution company.

Do you also plan to put up a school, like the Sundance Institute?

NJ: The whole idea behind Cinemalaya is mentoring. We don?t just give grants, we mentor and guide new filmmakers in the course of production.

What?s it like working with new filmmakers?

RT: Some can be obstinate in the beginning. But, later, they realize the value of our comments.

Laurice Guillen: I only come in, if it?s an extraordinary problem. Each filmmaker could have a different problem?script, technicals, casting.

RT: Some filmmakers want to cast only their friends. If those friends are not known or trained actors, they may encounter problems in the end.

How has Cinemalaya grown in the last five years?

LG: What is noticeable is the attention paid to technicals now. But every year, the batch is different.

When you started Cinemalaya, did you have specific goals? And have you accomplished them?

TC: When we started, Philippine cinema was dying. I?d like to think that, when we came in, we injected freshness and vitality to the industry.

LG: (Filmmaker) Joey Reyes, who was part of the deliberations for the Shorts, told me that he has finally decided to buy a digital camera and produce his own indie films.

Cinemalaya films won in the latest Enpress awards.

LG: I?m very happy to hear that because that?s one of our goals.

Does this mean that the mainstream audience is ready to embrace the indies?

LG: I think a lot of people are ready for the indies. It?s some of the networks that are not ready.

Do the networks consider Cinemalaya competition?

NJ: I don?t consider them competition. I was flattered when ABS-CBN came up with Cinema One Originals. I am glad that there are other digital initiatives like Sine Direk. I heard that Regal is also going digital.

Apart from local acceptance, one thing that really overwhelms us is the feedback from the international scene.

In the first year, I don?t remember having foreign guests. Last year, we had 14 foreign festival directors and programmers.

This year, Berlin, Pusan, Cannes and Toronto will be represented. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter also plan to cover it.

How does it feel, now that Cinemalaya has gone international?

TC: More than going international, what is important to me is that we will be able to market these films here and abroad. We want to set up a fund to help newcomers get recognized. This year, we are focusing on distribution and marketing.

What are the lessons, in terms of distribution and marketing?

TC: Not much (laughs)!

RT: The secret is the product that you offer. You have to make it a point to produce good films in order to attract an audience. We always ask the filmmakers to make something Filipino. In other words, the viewers should be able to see the Filipino soul in their works.