Well-known actor Willem Dafoe will chair the jury at this month's Bermuda International Film Festival.

Mr. Dafoe has appeared in more than 30 feature films, including ‘Platoon', ‘Mississippi Burning', ‘The English Patient', ‘Spiderman' and ‘The Last Temptation of Christ'.

In a speech to Rotarians yesterday, BIFF director Aideen Ratteray-Pryse also said that other jury members will be screenwriters Carlos Cuaron (‘Y Tu Mama Tambien'), Guillermo Arriaga (‘Amores Perros', ‘21 Grams'), filmmakers Patricia Flynn (‘Discovering Dominnga') and Helen Lee (‘Sophie') and Shane Smith of the Canadian Film Centre.

Dafoe is also in ‘The Reckoning', which will be one of the featured films during the festival.

“We have a first-class jury, I could not be more pleased,” Ms Ratteray-Pryse said.

“Willem leads a wonderful group of jurors who are charged with selecting the top narrative feature, documentary feature and short film.”

In 1997 BIFF screened 22 films and there are 71 film in this year's line-up.

Ticket sales begin March 8 at 10 a.m. Individual film tickets are $10. The festival takes place from March 19 to 25.