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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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