Tickets are now on sale for the third annual BIFF Kids Film Festival, presented by the Bermuda International Film Festival and Butterfield Bank.

Thirty-three children?s films from 15 countries will screen at the festival, as will 22 films made by Bermuda-based youngsters at the festival?s summer film production camps. The 55-film line-up represents a nine-film jump from last year?s BIFF Kids film programme.

A first this year is a shorts programme for children ages three and up.

Christian Zabriskie, a film programmer at BIFF Kids, said: ?We have screened films for kids five and up at our first two festivals, but we had a number of requests by parents to show films for the younger kids, too.

?So we have assembled a wonderful programme of short shorts from some of the world?s top animation studios.?

The festival opens at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 13 with The Ghost of Canterville (ages 7 and up), winner of the Best Film award at the Leeds Young People?s Film Festival.

The hilarious family drama will be preceded by a costume parade with prizes for the best costumes.

Children and adults are invited to come dressed in their favourite Hallowe?en costume. Two other series of short films will also screen at the festival.

Positively African (ages 6 and up) is a series showing the positive side of Africa, and includes Binta and the Great Idea, which has won 40 festival awards worldwide.

Twisted Toons, meanwhile, is a series of 12 twisted cartoon shorts suitable for a teen audience.

The film line-up also includes:

Feature film The Treasure of the White Falcons (age 9 and up) winner of audience awards at the Vienna Children?s Film Festival and Hamburg Film Festival

Documentary feature, The Boys of Baraka (age 9 and up), winner of documentary prizes at the Newport Beach, Atlanta and Chicago film festivals

Documentary feature Hope for the Future (age 14 and yp), which is the follow-up film to Teaching Peace in a Time of War, which screened at BIFF Kids 2005

Alosha (age five and up), the highest-grossing Russian animated film of all time from the makers of last year?s BIFF Kids animated hit, Little Longnose

The festival closes with the feature film, Joni?s Promise (age 14 and up), a romantic comedy that has screened at many of the world?s leading festivals including Barcelona, Sydney, Tokyo and Seattle.

All screenings will take place at Liberty Theatre, beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 13 and continuing on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10.30 a.m. Online ticket sales begin at www.biff.bm at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The festival box office opens at the same time on the same date at the Visitors Service Bureau, Front Street, Hamilton.

The box office will be open daily, except Sunday, through Friday, October 13 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Tickets will also be available at the door.