Sticking with emerging filmmakers, I duck into a screening of student films. I advise most of them to change their majors. Most of the marketgoers I talk to are not impressed with what they've seen. The Independent Feature Project does screen the films, but it's not as selective as a film festival. If you can cough up $300, it's likely your film will be screened.

Belgian distributor Alexander Vandeputte admits he is "a bit" disappointed with the general level of quality.

"A lot of independent films are self-reflective," he says. "And the actual quality is poor. I shouldn't be aware of the difficulties of mounting an independent film."

But the creators are proud of the sacrifices they've made. As one put it, they've "mortgaged their souls" to produce their baby. They've invested their life's savings, and that of their next life, testing the elasticity of plastic. Filmmakers would be wise to remember the advice of Rafael Oller, who documented the lives of Cubans at Guantanemo Naval Base in American Purgatory.

"Our philosophy is that the most important person in making a film is the audience," Oller explains. "I don't believe in art for art's sake."

Oller's documentary and other films save the weekend. Angela, by filmmaker Rebecca Miller, is the award winner shown on closing night. It was a Sundance Winner and tells the story of a young girl obsessed with religion. She's the daughter of a manic depressive mother who resembles Marilyn Monroe, former wife of the filmmaker's father, Arthur Miller.

Angela will likely be picked up by a big name distributor, like other films shown here in the past such as Clerks, Metropolitan and Raising Arizona. According to one market insider, however, just a few of this week's films will be bought.

But that doesn't discourage a young filmmaker. Only five people walked out on his film, his wallet is fat with business cards and a buyer has promised to call. Now if he just had a cellular phone.