The 11th annual Bermuda International Film Festival is blasting out of the gates tonight with an early evening VIP reception, seven films hitting the theatres and a funky opening party at Rock Island coffee house slated to run into the early hours.

Bacardi Limited will host an invitation-only reception today from 4.30-6.30 p.m. at its headquarters on Pitts Bay Road.

Visiting filmmakers, the BIFF 2008 jury members and organisers, international and local press, and the festival's sponsors and patrons will enjoy signature Bacardi cocktails before heading to the cinemas for the festival's opening night films.

Bacardi is a contributing partner of the festival, and also sponsors the Bacardi Audience Choice Award, an award voted on by filmgoers, not BIFF judges. The winning film will be announced at the festival's Wrap Party and Award Ceremony at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on Saturday, April 5. The official opening film of the festival is 'St. Trinian's', a British franchise comedy centred around a group of mishievous schoolgirls and their antics. The film will be shown at 7.30 p.m. at Southside Cinema.

The festival's three other venues in town – Little Theatre on Queen Street, Liberty Theatre at 49 Union Square and the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute's Tradewinds Auditorium on Crow Lane – will each screen two films (see reviews and BIFF ad for film details).

Once festival-goers have filled up on film they are encouraged to check out BIFF's opening party from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Rock Island on Reid Street. New York City's DJ Bonehawk is going to launch the Bermuda Film Festival in style.

Entrance is $20 and will include refreshments and there will be a cash bar. Here you can mix and mingle with filmmakers, discuss films, nosh and dance.

More than 30 overseas directors, producers and actors will attend BIFF 11.

Narrative feature and documentary feature filmmakers in attendance will be directors Ben Herson ('Democracy in Dakar'), Csaba Bollok ('Iska's Journey'), Nitzan Gilady ('Jerusalem is Proud to Present'), Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit ('Saving Luna'), Michael Wilson ('Silhouette City'), Will Jewell ('South Coast'), Halil Efrat ('Souvenirs'), Steven-Charles Jaffe ('Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird'), Marlene Rhein ('The Big Shot-Caller'), and Richie Mehta ('Amal').

Feature producers include Susan Fueg ('A Winter Tale'), Agnes Csere ('Iska's Journey'), Natalie Zimmerman ('Silhouette City'), and Christine Giorgio and Amir Proushani ('The Big Shot-Caller'). Actor David Rhein ('The Big Shot-Caller') is also coming.

Short filmmakers include directors Nicolas Daenens ('A Day in a Life'), Rafael Kapelinski ('Emily Cries'), Sarah Knight ('Hot Flash'), Harun Mehmedinovic ('In the Name of the Son'), Armando del Rio ('The Legend of the Slow Man'), Neil Leifer ('Portraits of a Lady'), David Sauvage ('Carissa') and Daniel Mitchell ('Triple Concerto in D Minor'). Short film producers coming are Stephen Sweeney ('Bloom'), Piotr Ledwig ('Emily Cries'), Barbara Ghammashi ('Hot Flash'), Walter Bernard ('Portraits of a Lady') and Riccardo Baldini ('Carissa'). Carissa Phelps, the producer and subject of the short film 'Carissa', is also attending.

Sara Bagdasarianz of Seville Pictures in Montreal will also be at the festival, as will local filmmakers Adrian Kawaley-Lathan and Kalilah Robinson ('Behind the Mask: Bermuda Gombeys'), Charles Reilly ('Walking With Joseph'), Andrew Stevenson ('Sleeping With Whales'), as well as the Look Bermuda team of Milton Raposo, JP Rouja and Ben Watson ('Old School/New School') and the Mount Saint Agnes Academy animation class ('Bermuda 2108').

They will be accompanied by a five-strong overseas press corps – Peter Rainer (National Public Radio, US), Nick Roddick (Split Screen, UK), Claire Varney (CHUM TV/Star Daily, Canada), Emmanuel Itier (Book LA, Buzzine, US) and Charles Olsky (indieWIRE, US).

David Poland, who sits on BIFF's International Advisory Board, will also be in attendance.

He is the editor in chief of the online film sites, Movie City News and thehotbutton.com.

BIFF 2008 features 79 films from 32 countries. The films screen at four cinemas – Southside, Liberty, Little and Tradewinds Auditorium at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute – over nine days. Tickets are on sale now at www.biff.bm and at the festival box office at Washington Lane, Hamilton.