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Film Lineup 2019 BIFF

Most Diverse BIFF Yet! Opening and Closing With Strong Academy Award® Contenders

 

Nassau, Bahamas – October 30, 2019 – BIFF Founder and Executive Director Leslie Vanderpool announced the program today. Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), is celebrating its 16thedition this year, and taking place December 9 - December 15. Today we are thrilled to reveal an extraordinary lineup of films to be showcased in and out of competition at Baha Mar Resort.

Two powerhouse studio films will bookend this year’s film festival.  Michael B. Jordan, Academy Award® winners Brie Larson and Jamie Foxx star in Warner Bros. highly acclaimed JUST MERCY, which will be the centerpiece of the Opening Night Gala, Wednesday, December 11 at Baha Mar. Meanwhile, PAIN & GLORY (Sony Pictures Classics), written and directed by Academy Award® winner Pedro Almodovar, and starring Academy Award® winner Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas will shine at BIFF’s Closing Gala, December 15 at Baha Mar.

Vanderpool, is honored to have the most diverse films to be showcased at BIFF yet! With two of the most talked about films of the year. Vanderpool has been quoted saying, “As The Bahamas faces a collective resolve to support two economic tourist meccas Abaco and Grand Bahama, BIFF will assist by donating ticket sales to support students from those islands that were impacted by Hurricane Dorian.”

 

For the first time in many years BIFF will take place entirely in Nassau, with the Writers Residency Program and the main event once again celebrating Cinema In Paradise.

 

This year, the Festival will showcase 53 films from 22 countries including: 8 World Premieres, 43 Caribbean Premieres and all Bahamian Premieres.

 

The four categories in competition at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative; Spirit of Freedom: Documentary; New Visions; and Short Film. 

 

The official BIFF feature lineup is comprised of the following films:

 

SPIRIT OF FREEDOM (NARRATIVE)

DOING MONEY (Romania) / Director: Lynsey Miller

ETERNAL WINTER (Hungary) / Director: Attila Szasz

GIVE ME LIBERTY (USA) / Director: Kirill Mikhanovsky
HARRIET  (USA) / Director: Kasi Lemons

INSIDE THE RAIN (USA) / Director: Aaron Fisher

SPIRIT OF FREEDOM (DOCUMENTARY)

DONS OF DISCO (Italy) / Director: Jonathan Sutak
FREE MEN (USA, Switzerland) / Director: Anne Frederique Widmann
THE RAVEN AND THE SEAGULL (Denmark) / Director: Lasse Lau
THE REMIX: HIP HOP X FASHION (United States) / Directors: Lisa Cortes, Farah Khalid


NEW VISIONS
QUEST (USA) / Director: Santiago Rizzo
RANGE RUNNERS (USA) / Director: Philip Plowden
SAME BOAT (USA) / Director: Chris Roberti

SELL BY (USA) / Director: Mike Doyle
TUSCALOOSA (USA) / Director: Philip Harder

 

WORLD CINEMA

ABDUCTION (USA) / Director: Ernie Barbarash

MISS VIRGINIA (USA) / Director: R.J. Daniel Hanna
WATCH LIST (Philippines) / Director: Ben Rekhi


SPECIAL SCREENING

DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME (USA) / Director: A.J. Eaton / Sony Pictures Classics
BORN INTO THE GIG (USA) / Directors: David Heilbroner, Kate Davis

 

RETROSPECTIVE

DO THE RIGHT THING (USA) / Director, Writer, Producer, Spike Lee. Starring Rosie Perez, Roger Guenveur Smith, Martin Lawrence, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Spike Lee, John Turturro.

OPENING GALA FILM

JUST MERCY (USA) / Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Writer: Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham, Bryan Stevenson

Producer:  Gil Netter, Michael B. Jordan, Asher Goldstein

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Michael B. Jordan, Tim Blake Nelson

A Warner Bros. Studio Film

CLOSING GALA FILM

PAIN AND GLORY (Spain) / Writer, Director: Pedro Almodovar

Producer: Agustin Almodovar, Esther Garcia

Cast: Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas

A Sony Pictures Classics Film

SHORT FILMS

BLACK HAT (USA) / Director: Sarah Smith
CANNONBALL (USA) / Director: Sean Fredricks
CAP (USA) / Director: Moira Griffin

CARL’S MOTEL (USA) / Director: Stuart McIntyre
DIOS NUNCA MUERE (USA) / Director: Barbara Cigarroa
FLIGHT (USA) / Director: Kia Moses
IS SOMEONE THERE? (USA) / Director: Tim Garrick
GUY PROPOSES TO HIS GIRLFRIEND ON A MOUNTAIN (Austria) / Director: Bernhard Wenger
MADAME (France) / Director: Garth Jennings
MILLER & SON (USA) / Director: Asher Jelinsky
MOTH (Russia) / Director: Alexey Frenkel
MOVING ON (USA) / Director: Nyasha Hatendi
MY FATHER BELIZE (Belize, USA) / Director: Leon Lozano
NIGHT SONG (USA) / Director: Henriett Tunyogi

SILENCE (United Kingdom) / Director: George Jacques
SLEEPWALK (USA) / Director: Filipe Melo

STANDSTILL (Canada) / Director: Katia Shannon

THE ARRIVAL (UK) / Director: Annetta Laufer

THE HALL (USA) / Director: Ted Leonard

THE WIND PHONE (USA) / Director: Kristen Gerweck

TO EACH YOUR SARAH (Korea) / Director: Deokgeun Kim

ELECTRIC SWAN (Mexico) / Director: Konstantina Kotzamani

WITHOUT (USA) / Director: Jacob Combs

 

SHORT FILMS OUT OF COMPETITION

AD MELIORA (Bahamas) / Director: Rebekah Burrows

BEING (Bahamas) / Director: Cathleen Dean

CHILD OF THE CENOTE: (Bahamas) / Director: André Musgrove

FREEDOM TO PARADISE (Bahamas, USA) / Director: Luke Madden

LICENCE 2 CREATE (Bahamas) / Directors: Kerel Pinder, Matt Bull

LIFTED (Trinidad & Tobago) / Directors: Miquel Galofre, Leila Jane Nassif

PLASTIC WARRIORS (Bahamas) / Director: Lavado Stubbs

PRIZEFIGHTER (USA) / Director: Lyndon Barrois

THE AFTERMATH (Bahamas) / Directors: Anaya Dean, Santia Dean

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A DICTIONARY (Bahamas) / Director: Vijay Subramanian

THE BLUES CRAB (USA) / Director: Ari Rubenstein

BIFF 2019 kicks off on Monday, December 9 and will run through to Sunday, December 15. Additional announcements pertaining to the Festival and filmmakers attending will be made in the coming weeks.  Tickets are now available to be purchased online http://www.bintlfilmfest.com/the_festival or call the BIFF office at (242) 698-1800.

2019 BIFF FILM GUIDE 

About Bahamas International Film Festival

The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) is a nonprofit organization committed to providing the local community and international festival-goers with a diverse presentation of films from The Bahamas and around the world. In addition to showcasing films that might not otherwise be released theatrically, BIFF provides unique cultural experiences, educational programs, and forums for exploring the past, present and future of cinema. BIFF aims to raise the level of filmmaking, participation and education throughout The Bahamas and the world.

Apart from showcasing 1000+ local and international films, BIFF has created a legacy of excellence presenting The Bahamas as a premier film destination to the international cinematic community. 

Each successive year BIFF grows significantly, with public relations dollar value over $20 million, according to the renowned publicity firm Rogers and Cowan. BIFF has attracted A-List celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Wright, Grace Jones, Chaz Ebert, Debra Messing, Danny Glover, Heather Graham, Alan Arkin, Sir Sean Connery, Roger Corman, Daryl Hannah, Sophie Okonedo, Anna Faris, Naomie Harris, Zoe Kravitz, Lenny Kravitz, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Roger Guenveur Smith, Michael K Williams, Rae Dawn Chong, Lee Daniels and many more

For additional information, please visit www.bintlfilmfest.com

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leslie@bintlfilmfest.com


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