Bahamas International Film Festival Dailies

Sean Baker’s Drama “The Florida Project” Starring Willem Dafoe, Selected as BIFF 2017 Opening Night Film

The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), celebrating its 14^th edition this year, and taking place December 10-17, today revealed the lineup of films screening in the festival’s competition and sidebar sections. The program was announced by BIFF Founder and Executive Director Leslie Vanderpool.

This year, the Festival will showcase more than 82 films from 28 different countries including twelve world premiere, 4 international premieres, 57 Caribbean premieres, and all are Bahamian premieres.

The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative; Spirit of Freedom: Documentary; New Visions; and Short Film. Additional categories out of competition are World Cinema; Special Screenings; Environmental and Oceans Spotlight and non-Jury Short Films. 

The Festival’s opening night will kick off with one highly acclaimed film screening on December 10^th in Harbour Island -- Sean Baker’s drama “The Florida Project” starring Willem Dafoe.”

Said Vanderpool, “My wish is to introduce the public attending the Festival to the films and the culture of different countries every year. Often movies that are normally unable to be seen inspire young filmmakers and resonate in their imagination for years to come. I believe that this program presents elements to please and interest everybody, balancing amusement with more engaging stories.”

Vanderpool added, “I’m particularly excited to be showing an amazing and powerful film to open our Festival this year. This film (‘The Florida Project’) has created such a buzz internationally and will no doubt be a highly sought-after ticket at BIFF. It is a likely frontrunner in the coming awards season in Hollywood so we’re honored to be showcasing it in the Bahamas for BIFF audiences.”

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

SPIRIT OF FREEDOM (NARRATIVE)

ALINA (USA, Russia) / Director: Ben Behernholtz
AT EYE LEVEL (Germany) / Directors: Evi Goldbrunner & Joachim Dollhopf
LANE 1974 (USA) / Director: Chiro
LIYANA (Swaziland, USA, Qatar) / Directors: Aaron Kopp & Amanda Kopp

The Drawer Boy

The Hudson Tribes

Tinker

SPIRIT OF FREEDOM (DOCUMENTARY)

BY ALL MEANS: A ROCK ‘N ROLL STORY / Director: Patrick Hewlett
DELICATE BALANCE (Spain) / Director: Guillermo Garcia Lopez
I AM SHAKESPEARE (USA) / Director: Stephen Dest
MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER (Canada) / Director: Ann Shin
SACRED WATER (Rwandan) / Director: Olivier Jourdain
SHINGALI, WHERE ARE YOU? (Turkey) / Director: Angelos Rallis
THE GOLDEN AGE (USA, India) / Director: Justin Connor

NEW VISIONS – JURY FILMS

7X7(USA) / Director: Liam Hughes
ALASKA IS A DRAG (USA) / Director: Shaz Bennett
BEAUTY MARK (USA) / Director: Harris Doran
BLANK 13 (Japan) / Director: Takumi Saito
DIM THE FLORESCENTS (Canada) / Director: Daniel Warth
DR. BRINKS & DR. BRINKS (USA) / Director: Josh Crockett
GREEN DAYS BY THE RIVER (Trinidad and Tobago) / Director: Michael Mooleedhar
INTERLUDE (France) / Director: Bernard Tanguy
JUGGERNAUT (USA) / Director: Daniel DiMarco
MILLION LOVES IN ME (Hong Kong) / Director: Sampson Yuen
NOBLE EARTH (Italy) / Director: Ursula Grisham
THE DEFINITES (Canada) / Directors: Hannah Cheesman & Mackenzie Donaldson
THE DUNNING MAN (USA) / Director: Michael Clayton
THE LINES (USA) / Director: Kiku Ohe
TISAY (Philippines) / Director: Alfonso Torre
TOURNAMENTS OF LOVE (France) / Director: Caroline Jules

OCEAN & ENVIRONMENT THEME

AN OCEAN MYSTERY THE MISSING CATCH (USA, Bahamas) / Director: Alison Barrat
CUT BAIT (USA, Bahamas) / Director: Robert Walkine
EARTHY ENCOUNTERS (UK) / Director: Sam Johnson
LA PESCA (Columbia) / Director: Pablo Alvarez
LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE (USA) / Director: Cynthia Neal
STRAWS (USA) / Director: Linda Booker
VIRE (Guadeloupe) / Director: Hugo Rousselin

SHORT FILM Narrative Short Jury Films

ANOTHER GIRL (USA) / Director: Austin Kase
ASLEEP (Canada) / Director: Mak Abdelhai
BAD NEWS (Italy) / Director: Matteo Petrelli
CASSANDRA (France) / Director: Joffrey Renambatz
CATFISH (Iran) / Director: Sourena Bayramloo
COMFORT AND JOY (UK) / Directors: Will Jeffs & AJ Simmons
COWBOY & INDIAN (USA) / Director: Sujata Day
DEVILS LUCK (USA) / Director: Robert C. Eaton
EARTHY ENCOUNTERS (UK) / Director: Sam Johnson
EAST (USA) / Director: Dana Marisa S Choenfeld
FOREVER NOW (Denmark) / Director: Kristin Håskjold
JC (USA) / Director: Matt Boatright-Simon
LACRIMOSA (Austria) / Director: Tanja Mairitsch
LAWMAN (USA) / Director: Matthew Gentile
LEO JOHNSON (USA) / Director: Evan Bluestein
LIFE IN OTHER WORDS (Bangladesh) / Director: Abrar Athar
LIMBO (Greece) / Director: Konstantina Kotzamani
MACKENZIE (USA) / Director: Sofia Astrom
OUTSIDE THE LINES (USA) / Director: Joshua Jacobs
OWEN (USA) / Director: Kelly Pike
PRIA (Indonesia) / Director: Yudho Aditya
RETOUCH (Iran) / Director: Kaveh Mazaheri
ROSARIO (Mexico) / Director: Marlen Ríos-Farjat
ROSELYN (Bahamas) / Director: Jason Evans
SHORT DROP (Trinidad and Tobago) / Director: Maya Cozier
SILENT NIGHTS (Denmark) / Director: Aske Bang
THE ADVENTURES OF SELIKA (UK) / Director: Sybil Mair
THE ASPEN PROJECT (USA) / Director: Chino Maurice
THE DARKNESS OF THE MOOR (USA) / Director: James Everett
THE GIRLS WERE DOING NOTHING (UK) / Director: Dekel Berenson
THE LIFE OF MARIE (Germany) / Director: Rolf Kasteleiner
THE REAL THING (USA) / Director: Brandon Kelley
TOFFEE (India) / Director: Tahira Kashyap
WHAT REMAINS OF YOU (France) / Director: Kevin Dresse
YOURS SINCERELY, LOIS WEBER (USA) / Director: Svetlana Cvetko

OUT OF COMPETITION

LOGGERHEAD SEAT TURTLE (USA) / Director: Cynthia Neal
STRAWS (USA) / Director: Linda Booker
VIRE (Guadeloupe) / Director: Hugo Rousselin
LA PESCA (Columbia) / Director: Pablo Alvarez
CUT BAIT (USA, Bahamas) / Director: Robert Walkine
GUAVA DUFF (Bahamas) / Director: Anaya and Santia Dean

WORLD CINEMA (DOCUMENTARY)

BAREFOOT RASTA (Germany, Ethiopia, Canada)) / Director: Andy Siege
BETWEEN 2 SHORES (Guadeloupe) / Director: Mariette Monpierre
I DO? (USA) / Director: Joe Brandmeier
REBELS ON POINTE (Canada) / Director: Bobbi Jo Hart
SUSANNE BARTSCH: ON TOP (USA) / Directors: Anthony Caronna & Alexander Smith

SPECIAL SCREENING

SLIM AARONS: THE HIGH LIFE (USA) / Director: Fritz Mitchell
STUDENT FILM WORKSHOP (Bahamas) / Five Films by Students
JUNOD (Japan) / Director: Shinichiro KIMURA
JOHN “CHIPPIE” CHIPMAN (Bahamas) / Director: Thriston & Verline Ewing

OPENING NIGHT FILM

THE FLORIDA PROJECT (USA) / Director: Sean Baker

BIFF 2017 kicks off on Sunday, December 10^th and will run through Sunday, December 17^th. For the sixth consecutive year, BIFF will be coming to Harbour Island on December 10-13 and concluding in Nassau from December 14-17, showcasing a diverse presentation of films from around the world accompanied by a group of local and international filmmakers.

Additional announcements pertaining to the Festival and filmmakers attending will be made in the coming weeks.  For additional information, please visit http://www.bintlfilmfest.com/.

About the 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.

BIFF has created a legacy of excellence in presenting The Bahamas as a premier film destination to the international cinematic community.  Apart from showcasing 1000+ local and international films, we have introduced our culture to more than one million film professionals and enthusiasts from around the world.

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, 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, Lee Daniels and many more

For additional information, please visit www.bintlfilmfest.com