But Jeffrey Jeturian has a more important role in this year’s Mobile Filmmakers Awards. He and along with other seasoned Asian filmmakers were handpicked to shoot a one to two minute film of their own topics under the theme of discovery. Their obra maestra from using the highly advance N90 (as of presstime, this was the phone given to Jeturian to film his short video clips though the N93, the latest Nokia video camera mobile phone will be one of the prizes) will then be showcased exclusively at www.mobifilms.net.

Jeffrey Jeturian is one of the country’s renowned directors who helmed "Pila Balde (1999), or "Fetch a Pail of Water" that won the NETPAC Jury Award during the first CineManila International Film Festival in 1999 and the recipient of a Gold Award at the 2000 Worldfest International Film Festival in Houston, Texas, USA. His film "Larger Than Life" or "Tuhog" in 2000 was also a Gold Award Recipient at the 2002 Worldfest International Film Festival was an official entry to compete in the "Cinema of the Present" section of the Venice International Film Festival in 2001.

The other Asia filmmakers joining him in Mobile Filmmakers Awards 2006 are Ekachai from Thailand and the director of "Beautiful Boxer," Kelvin Tong from Singapore who helmed "The Maid" which starred Alessandra da Rossi, Bertrand Lee from Singapore also and Yasmin Ahmad from Malaysia who directed "Sepet."

For his exhibition piece, Jeffrey Jeturian is planning of submitting two short video clips. He plans to shoot a clip regarding a traffic intersection where his film would start with cars stopped on a red signal light, then end when the traffic light turns green.

His goal is to show the makeshift economy that happens during a stopped light " the kids getting on jeepneys to wipe the shoes or the passengers or the windows of cars for a peso or even people riding buses just to preach. His second piece would be on a railroad track wherein kids are pushing their cart on the tracks until a real train comes along that pushes them out of the tracks. His ideas are to show audiences a different side of the Filipino culture and present situation.

"For me it’s a challenge. For somebody who’s not really into modern gadgets kasi hindi naman ako ‘techie.’ It’s a challenge for me because at least I’m forced to really learn and then secondly it’s an honor to be chosen as the representative of the Philippines because I’ll be with respected Asian directors who have established names for themselves. At the same time it’s a challenge to come out with something noteworthy since last year ang nanalo was a Filipino," he expressed.

For him digital movie making has revolutionized the landscape of filmmaking. More than the technology involved, it has produced more directors who are not even afraid to experiment on their respective genres.

"During my time I have to wait a lifetime to be given a break to direct a film especially it’s my dream and ambition to be a director. But because everything is in 35 mm everything’s expensive so it took sometime to trust me and give me my break. But with the onset of this digital revolution, anybody who wants to be a filmmaker madali na magkaroon ng break because it is a lot cheaper. Every amateur can make their own stuff," he explained.

In terms of professional filmmaking, the difference could be in bringing and setting-up the proper lights and even orchestrating the actors and blocking them. But for documentaries and aspiring filmmakers, using digital technology are very ideal!

But does the use of digital movie making even with an N90 or N93 compromise the artisty of a filmmaker like him?

"Yung artistry nag-aadjust naman yan like given this equipment, an artist will find ways to do his own aesthetics given his camera phone. Kaya meron ding mag-emerge na artistic. Yung artistry wala sa equipment nasa tao," he opined.

As for Discovery Networks Asia Senior Vice President of Programming and Creative Services, James Gibbons, resonated Mr. Jeturian’s views on artistry and using digital video equipments in filmming in an interview. He was quoted as saying, "The response to the First Time Mobile Filmmakers 2005 Awards and the quality of entries received showed that anyone with basic knowledge of how a mobile phone works is able to shoot their own mobile film and capture the world around them...together with Nokia we have launched a new genre in Asia which is called mobile filmmaking...we are committed to growing and developing the genre of mobile filmmaking. As such we will be organizing this contest annually to continue to uncover new talent and take mobile filmmaking to greater heights!"

To understand more the Mobile Filmmakers 2006 Awards, interested parties can log on to www.mobifilms.net. A gist of the competition is as follows, the first round of the competition, 60 semi-finalists will be selected from all the entries received. These 60 semi-finalists will need to attend a workshop organized by Discovery Networks Asia and each semi-finalist will receive a Nokia N90 mobile phone. The second round will narrow down the contestants to 12 finalists who will be flown to Singapore to learn more about mobile filmmaking techniques from experts in the industry. Each finalists will receive a Nokia N93 while the winner takes home USD,000 and a chance to work with Discovery Networks Asia for a three-month period!

As Nokia’s Senior Vice President for Customer and Market Operations exclaimed, "Regional initiatives like the Mobile Filmmakers Awards prove that with the software and hardware that’s built into today’s camera phones, you can get an imaging and filmmaking experience that’s equal to or better than that from a dedicated digital camera or camcorder."

At the moment, Jeffrey Jeturian has a full feature film entitled "Kubrador" or "The Bet Collector" which is in competition at the Moscow International Film Festival since June 22 until July 3, 2006. Then it will compete also this July at the New Delhi International Film Festival.

Starring local seasoned actress Gina Pareño, his film follows the life of a bet collector or jueteng collector, for three days. It hasn’t been released in the local market yet.

"Our strategy is to field it to international film festival and hopefully it does well. We want it to create waves muna before we show it here. Otherwise if show it na wala pang pedigree hindi papanuorin kasi it is just an alternative film and Gina Pareño lang ang bida," he related.

He will also soon do a a comedy film under Seiko Films and another one from Viva Films. Mr. Jeturian’s most recent film was Seiko Film’s "Bikini Open"€ which was shown last May of 2005.