stage with its first annual Film Festival.

The inaugural Bermuda International Film Festival opens tonight at the Liberty Theatre in Hamilton.

Film Festival general manager Aideen Ratteray Pryse said the opening will feature the world premiere of the short film Ezekiel as well as the full length film, The Whole Wide World, which stars Rene Zellweger who played the heroine in the box-office hit Jerry McGuire.

Mrs. Ratteray Pryse said that although tickets for the week-long festival had been selling well, last minute movie buffs could still get seats for the films.

And she promised the festival will have something for everyone since the short and feature length independent films cover a broad range of subjects.

"Directors of the films entered in the Festival have focused on issues as diverse as life in modern suburbia, challenges presented by race relations and an exhaustive search for a family's roots,'' Mrs. Ratteray Pryse added. "We really feel that there's something for everyone in the Festival's line up.'' The week will cumulate with a jury prize being awarded next Thursday.

Tickets for the Film Festival are available from the Visitor's Service Bureau in Hamilton, at the box offices of the Liberty and Little Theatres prior to each screening or through 293-FILM.