well-kept secrets'', was declared the winner of the first annual Bermuda International Film Festival last night.

At a closing gala at Ariel Sands, judges Jane Alexander, Tim Hodgson and Tom Shoebridge named the winner from among 14 feature films and documentaries screened this week.

The documentary, follows director Macky Alston's search for descendants of slaves and slaveowners from plantations once owned by his family.

Royal Gazette reviewer Raymond Hainey said of the film: "The message that, whether gay or straight, black, white or somewhere in between, we're all brothers and sisters under the skin comes across strong.'' An honourable mention was awarded to `the Riddle', a joint American-Russian production directed by Evan Brenner, about a 10-year-old Russian boy who is obsessed with his past.

COMPETITION CPN