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A Shining Light
Festival Founder and Executive Director Leslie Vanderpool recently announced the final program details for the 11thedition of the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), which takes place December 4-9, 2014 in Nassau and December 10-14, in Harbour Island, Eleuthera. This year, the Festival will showcase 95 films from 30 different countries, including 48 features and 47 short films of which several are international premieres and all are Bahamian premieres. The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative & Documentary; New Visions; and Short Film. Special sections include Caribbean Spotlight and World Cinema as well as Special Screenings.
Executive Director Vanderpool also noted recently that the festival is proud to announce the return of the Filmmaker’s Residency Program. For the tenth year BIFF has broadened the program to include filmmakers from around the world to submit screenplays that are based in The Bahamas or Caribbean region. The Filmmakers’ Residency Program nurtures screenwriters by providing them with an unrivaled opportunity to spend a week with accomplished professionals who make a living working in the industry from Los Angeles, Europe and New York. This year’s program will be held in Harbour Island, Eleuthera, on December 10 - 14, 2014
Mission
Launched in 2004, 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.
Its mission is dedicated to creating a cine-literate arts community, bridging cultures, gaining knowledge, and the Festival has showcased more than 600 films from countries around the world exposing The Bahamas to an international audience of filmmakers. It has attracted A-List celebrities such as Danny Glover, Heather Graham, Johnny Depp, Alan Arkin, Sir Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Roger Corman, Daryl Hannah, Sophie Okonedo, Anna Faris, Naomie Harris, Zoe Kravitz and Sydney Tamiia Poitier. Additionally, BIFF has succeeded in promoting The Bahamas as a tourist destination and potential cinema production venue through its annual events. Prestigious publications featuring the Festival include Variety Magazine, Hollywood Report and Moving Pictures Magazine, Premier Magazine, all published in Los Angeles. Publications that featured the Festival are: New York Times, Financial Times, Travel & Leisure, Screen International, Entertainment Tonight, Hello Magazine and London Times.
Jeffrey Lyons, one of Hollywood’s best-known film critics and author of “The Stories My Father Told Me” has high praise for BIFF. He says, "The Bahamas International Film Festival is a shining light among a large field of film festivals; it has an astonishing intimacy about it. Young filmmakers, many of them talented Bahamians, get to rub shoulders with movie stars and established filmmakers; contacts they might otherwise not have. It is a celebration of international artistic achievement in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and a vital part of The Bahamas' standing as a creative Mecca for all."
Written by by Donna Comito