Film Lineup Revealed For Upcoming BIFF 2015

February 26, 2015

BIFF today [Feb 26] announced the lineup for the annual Bermuda International Film Festival which will be held next month, from March 20-26].

“BIFF has carefully curated a programme of over 30 feature-length and short films to be screened during festival week at Liberty Theatre. As the event is now in its eighteenth year, the programme is themed “Coming of Age” and features many films that explore the difficult divide between childhood and adulthood, and the internal and external conflicts it brings,” a spokesperson said.

Opening Gala

BIFF 2015 opens with the romantic romp 5 to 7, which was nominated for Best Narrative Feature at Palm Springs International Film Festival. A chance encounter on the streets of Manhattan draws 20-something aspiring writer played by Anton Yelchin into a passionate love affair with glamorous SkyFall Bond girl Berenice Marlohe.

5 to 7 trailer

World Cinema

As ever the backbone of the festival is the celebrated World Cinema lineup, this year bringing features from Belgium, Canada, the Congo, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Ukraine and the UK, to Bermuda. They include Two Days, One Night for which Marion Cotillard was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars at the weekend.

The Oscar winning documentary CitizenFour and Oscar-nominated documentary Virunga will also be screened at BIFF. “Citizen Four” is computer analyst Edward Snowden, who used this moniker in 2013 to whistle-blow the extent of government surveillance in post 9/11 USA.

The documentary looks at how he became the story, almost eclipsing the implications of the information he revealed. While in contrast Virunga takes us to the forested depths of eastern Congo, where a small and embattled team of park rangers work to protect one of the most bio-diverse places on Earth and home to the planet’s last remaining mountain gorillas.

CitizenFour trailer

Other World Cinema highlights include Indonesian documentary The Look of Silence, a companion piece to the controversial and Oscar-nominated Act of Killing, which screened at BIFF 2013; Cannes Jury Prize winner Mommy; and Northern Ireland drama ’71 that earned Yann Demange a Best Director gong at the British Independent Film Awards.

From the Onion Patch

This raft of foreign films is complemented by a showcase of home-grown talent, From the Onion Patch. This year’s offering includes inspiring documentary Healing History, which profiles the pioneering education programmes of Melodye Micere Van Putten that are recognised by Bermuda Senate and have been delivered on the island.

BIFF will also present the documentary Welcoming Arms that puts Bermuda’s Johnny Barnes back on the big screen. This time his good character is brought to life through the eyes of the island’s children. The short film The Last Time I Heard Your Voice by Marq Rodriguez explores the poignancy of a voicemail from a lost love.

BIFF Kids

This year BIFF reintroduced a BIFF Kids section so that younger audiences can join in the festival fun. Both Song of the Sea and The Tale of Princess Kaguya were nominated for Best Animation Film at the Academy awards. They will be screened during the family-friendly weekend lunchtime slots.

The Tale of Princess Kaguya trailer

Bermuda Shorts

As BIFF is one of only a small number of Academy Award Qualifying festivals for the Short Film – Live Action Oscar, there will once again be a diverse line-up of high quality short films from all around the world. Around 20 entries will screen in competition at BIFF 2015 for the coveted Bermuda Shorts award to be judged by an esteemed industry panel.

Closing Gala

BIFF will close this year with The Farewell Party, a unique, compassionate and dark comedy. A dream cast of septuagenarians bring to life the difficult subject of self-euthanasia with a tale of actual life-or-death dilemmas. This film scooped an audience choice award at Venice Film Festival and BIFF said they are “confident it will equally delight Bermuda audiences.”

The Farewell Party Trailer:

Box Office

The full programme and more detailed synopses are now available in the BIFF 2015 online guide on www.biff.bm, which launches today. The box office opens next Wednesday, March 4. BIFF Patrons and Sponsors will be contacted directly and offered advance access to purchase tickets in recognition of their valued support.