MANILA, Philippines?The question stumps Tonyboy Cojuangco, chair of Cinemalaya Foundation:

Will his partner Gretchen Barretto ever act in an indie movie?

After all, contemporary (and perceived rival in the beauty department) Dawn Zulueta is reportedly starring in an indie movie to be produced by Boy Abunda and directed by Bobby Garcia.

?I don?t know,? Cojuangco says. ?I don?t want to force her to do anything.?

Barretto attended the Cinemalaya (the annual Philippine Independent Film Festival) awards night last year, Cojuangco recalls. ?She?s open (to the idea), but she?s focusing on her singing now. She hasn?t really thought about acting these days.?

An indie movie for Barretto isn?t far-fetched because two of the main proponents of the digital festival, filmmaker Laurice Guillen and producer Robbie Tan, are her mentors, having worked with them in her old movies for Seiko Films.

?She?s very close to Laurice and Robbie,? Cojuangco agrees. ?But she likes different types of movies. We have different tastes in movies. But that doesn?t mean that what I like is better than what she likes.?

For much the same consideration, he explains, Cinemalaya endeavors to present a ?variety? of films every year. ?We want the filmmakers to express their individuality.?

Cojuangco, who watched almost all the entries at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) last week, picks the eventual top winners as his personal favorites this year: Jon Steffan Ballesteros? ?Colorum,? Mike Sandejas? ?Dinig Sana Kita? and Veronica Velasco and Jinky Laurel?s ?Last Supper No. 3.?

?This year, all the films are equally good. Not one film has a clear advantage over the others,? he points out. ?Instead of viewing screeners at home, I prefer watching at the CCP so that I can see and hear for myself the audience?s reaction.?

The end of the tenure of Nes Jardin as CCP president will not have an effect on Cinemalaya?s future, says Cojuangco.

Supporting Cinemalaya

?We?re hoping that the next CCP president will allow us to continue staging the festival at the CCP,? he adds. ?In any case, we?re confident that the CCP board will continue supporting Cinemalaya because it has been successful for the past five years.?

If things don?t go as planned, Cojuangco says Cinemalaya is ready to ?look for another venue.?

Needless to say, Jardin will continue his roles as festival director and president of the Cinemalaya Foundation. ?That?s precisely why we put up a foundation, to ensure the festival?s continuity,? Cojuangco says.

Distribution

The Cinemalaya films will be shown on TV 5 after the 90-day grace period, he announces (Cojuangco is president of ABC 5.) ?But we?ll allow them to show their films in theaters first. We?ll air them on Dream Satellite as well. I have another concept for distributing the movies, but I?m keeping it under wraps for now.?

Is there a chance of upping the seed grant of P500,000?

?We?ll see,? he replies. ?First, we want to increase the number of categories. This year, we had the Netpac prize. Next year, we will allow veteran commercial directors to join the competition.?

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com