GEOFFREY GILMORE / FESTIVAL CO-DIRECTOR

Geoffrey Gilmore is in a good position to say what’s hot in independent cinema. As co-director of the Sundance Festival, running through next Sunday, he watched more than 600 submissions in the past year. But Gilmore, 48, isn’t telling his picks. After nearly a decade, he’s learned it’s best to let the buzz on films percolate naturally.

A LOT OF CELLULOID: “The number of independent films made in this country a year now tops 1,000. The fact that so few actually make it into the marketplace says something about the difficulties, the perseverance and inspirational qualities that independent filmmakers embody to just get them produced.”

20 / 20 HINDSIGHT: “Last year is a year we’re very proud of. Look at the films winning a number of critical accolades that began at Sundance--’Affliction,’ ‘High Art,’ ‘Central Station,’ ‘Slam,’ ‘Pi,’ ‘Gods and Monsters,’ ‘The Opposite of Sex.’ ”

BLURRY FORESIGHT: “But the interesting thing is that nobody stood before the festival and said that these are the films that would be the most notable at the end of the year.”

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY: “One thing interesting this year is that where the archetype independent filmmaker is usually seen as a 20-year-old kid, this is the year of thirtysomethings. And that’s a good thing. This kind of filmmaking draws on more maturity and experience, more complexity of storytelling.”

THE FORCE: “I won’t get in line [for the new “Star Wars”], but I’ll see it.”

A SICKNESS: “Interesting that a lot more independent filmmakers are on a learning curve of what an agency is about and how deals are structured than on what narrative and dramatic structure should be. They need to understand that the most successful people are fueled by their passion above anything else--like [Martin] Scorsese and [Steven] Spielberg sit watching movies on tape as they edit. The greatest filmmakers in the world, and they are still interested in learning. They’re models we’d all do well to emulate.”

COMMERCIAL CONCERNS: “We try to balance the aspects of the marketplace and the cultural agenda. I quote a friend who said, ‘One of the greatest favors you can do for an independent filmmaker is get him or her out of debt.’ Having a place where films can be discovered and filmmakers’ careers are begun is not something I’m ashamed of.”