EVEN before the Asian Festival of 1st Films (AFFF) opens for the third consecutive year in Singapore next week, it has proven its economic value - to date, the crop of films that made their debut at the first AFFF in 2005 have gone on to achieve over US$25 million in sales and distribution worldwide.

'Asian cinema has come of age,' says AFFF festival director Sanjoy Roy, who conceptualised this festival. AFFF is the only platform festival of its kind, he says, that recognises first-time film makers - of all disciplines from producers to actors - of Asian origin.

Mr Roy explains that the impetus for the festival came when they were researching the state of film distribution in Asia for an EU project: 'We discovered that though Asia produces 60 to 70 per cent of the world's cinema, only 2 to 3 per cent is distributed outside of Asia. One of the factors mentioned by distributors was there was no one place that brought together talent from across Asia, so I decided we needed a platform for merging voices from Asia.'

AFFF 2007 prides itself on showcasing films that might not have been seen by international audiences otherwise. It opens next Tuesday with the Mongolian film Khadak, which tells the story of a nomad's confrontation with his destiny to become a shaman.

This year's AFFF - part of the Asia Media Festival 2007 organised by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) - will see 21 nominated feature and documentary films competing for top honours. These were selected from over 500 submissions from 50 countries, which is a twofold increase from the entries received in 2005.

Peggy Chiao, chair of Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, who was part of AFFF 2007's initial selection committee, found AFFF 'an eye opener - especially considering the sheer volume of registered films'.

Which in a way answers the query: is there a need for such a festival? As Mr Roy points out, even someone as well-versed in the film scene as Ms Chiao was surprised to discover at the initial selection process - 'Of the over 230 films that she physically saw on the list, she had seen only one earlier.'

Christopher Chia, CEO of MDA, says that AFFF 'plays an important role in promoting Asian cinema to global audiences, while providing a strong platform for commercial film transactions to take place'.

But it's not just the money - many AFFF prize-winners have also won international critical acclaim. The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros from AFFF 2005, for example, was one of the 49 films nominated for 2006 Best Foreign Film Oscars, and has won 15 international awards including the International Jury Prize at Berlin.

Its director Auraeus Solito tells BT: 'Maximo Oliveros had its theatrical release in the Philippines the week it won in Singapore - which helped a lot with the buzz in making the film a box-office hit! To date, it is still the No 1 box office hit for an independent Filipino film released in Manila.'

In terms of getting the word out to first-time filmmakers, the organisers target key markets and regions each year such as China and India, and Europe through the Cannes film festival market. AFFF has a 100,000 strong data bank and is in close touch with producers'/directors' associations in different Asian countries.

Also, shares Mr Roy, 'winning films at AFFF generate interest and press in those countries, which help us reach out to first-time filmmakers who would not necessarily be on anybody's data bank'.

Singaporean participation in AFFF has grown. The organisers say that the entries submitted have steadily increased each year, amounting to 25 this year. From the selection this year, Australian/ Singapore production Feet Unbound has been picked as one of the 10 nominated documentaries at AFFF 2007.

The 'Asian' in the festival's title is defined, this year onwards, to include anyone of not just Asian but Asia-Pacific origin who is involved in film. Eventually, by 2009, the organisers see AFFF becoming, simply, 'the festival of first films', open to any film maker, anywhere in the world, who has made his or her first film and is searching for a platform to show it. Mr Roy hopes that it will become a 'magical space' to discover the world's best talents, in whom rest the future of film.

AFFF, Nov 27 to Dec 4; for details of tickets, screening times and venues visit www.asianfirstfilms.com