THIS YEAR?S Cinema One Originals digital film festival, set at the Shangri-La Plaza mall from November 10-16, should stand out for its diversity. It has gathered not just a varied bunch of filmmakers offering just as different genres, but a wide range of actors as well?from ABS-CBN crowd-drawers to screen veterans and indie neophytes.

Jason Paul Laxamana expressed admiration for the cast of his entry, ?Astro Mayabang?: Megan Young, John Lapus, Marco Morales, Hermes Bautista, Crystal Herrera, and especially young actor Arron Villaflor who plays the title character of an overly nationalistic teener.

?Arron is so hard-working,? Laxamana related. ?On top of juggling his regular job in ABS-CBN and his studies, he?d travel all the way to Pampanga for our shoot. Still, he showed no signs of fatigue. He always gave his best even though he was tired and it was way past midnight.?

Sigfried Barros Sanchez was just as impressed with 11-year-old actor Martin de los Santos, who took on the titular role in ?Tsardyer,? a Tausug boy whose job is to charge the cell phones used by the Abu Sayyaf in negotiating with relatives of kidnap victims.

?He is a prized find,? said Sanchez who also had praises for the rest of the cast led by Dimples Romana, Mon Confiado and Neil Ryan Sese.

Sanchez originally wanted a real Tausug child, but was blown away by De los Santos, who didn?t speak a word of the Mindanaoan language prior to the shoot.

?Martin owned the lines. He knew how to put the right accent and feeling to the Tausug dialogue. The child is gifted. He?s a blessing to our film,? said Sanchez.

EJ Salcedo didn?t feel the least bit daunted, even though he had to direct mainstream stars like Sam Milby, Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Quan in ?Third World Happy??a story of a Fil-Am painter?s dreams and the meaning of inspiration.

?The best part of filmmaking is the process,? Salcedo noted. ?Sam, Jodi, Richard and the rest of the cast became part of my family. What they gave was more than what I had expected. The cast and crew became a Third World Happy family.?

Michael Angelo Dagñalan didn?t hide his high regard for Pen Medina, the lead actor of ?Layang Bilanggo,? who plays a convicted assassin who escapes from prison.

?From our first meeting, I told Pen to take ownership of his character,? Dagñalan recalled. ?He gave his best and I allowed him to revise the dialogue and scenes, to make it more natural. He?s an underrated actor whose time to shine has come.?

Joaquin Pedro Valdes took his cast on a journey of discovery in making ?Dagim,? a ?speculative fiction? about bloodsuckers and other horrifying creatures of the dark.

?They underwent gruelling workshops, wrote their own back stories, improvised unscreened scenes, developed their own physical quirks and habits and created their own language,? Valdes recounted.

?Still, they all had to come together as a unit. It was primal, tribal boot camp. With Marc Abaya as leader of the tribe, these different folks coalesced. Like blood brothers.?

Richard Somes recruited some of the industry?s finest character actors, Ronnie Lazaro, Mark Gil and Pen Medina, in making his action film ?Ishmael,? his homage to Clint Eastwood?s ?Unforgiven.?

?Ronnie and I had a great partnership in [the 2008 Cinema One entry] ?Yanggaw,?? Somes related. ?I?ve been dreaming of working with Mark who?s brilliant. Pen is a chameleon and brought the film to another level.?

Remton Zuasola tapped a cast of largely unknown Cebuano actors and first-timers for ?Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria Kirschbaum.?

It surely helped that Zuasola had previously worked with lead star Donna Gimeno, who was also part of his Cinemanila-winning short ?To Siomai Love.?

?They worked well together and stayed in character because the entire film consists of one whole take that lasted an hour and a half,? he said. ?I admire their dedication. They willingly stepped out of their comfort zones to improve their performances.?

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