US lawyer and movie buff Johnnie Cochran took a break from legal duties to attend the rain-hit launch of the sixth Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF).

Cochran, famed for his role as lead defence counsel in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, was making his second trip to the Island.

"I was here two years ago and I really liked it. It rained then also," he said.

The festival opened on Friday with a reception thrown by insurance giant ACE Limited.

Although the weather dampened some spirits, Town Crier Ed Christopher said : "May every drop of rain be an applause for good things to come."

And the handful of jurors here for the week long festival of independent film are chomping at the bit.

Local and foreign journalists, filmmakers, invited guests and organisers mingled easily at the first of many parties to come.

As can be expected the buzz was all film talk - old, new and what's to come.

Unexpected guest Mr. Cochran, who is here with his wife Dale, said he needed a break from being a lawyer.

"It's very convenient and I love the people and I love the ambience."

An occasional film investor - he joined a group of African Americans in helping to fund Spike Lee's Get on the Bus - Mr. Cochran said that his all time favourite film is To Kill a Mockingbird.

"I'm a big fan of Sidney Poitier because of the way he carries himself and the kind of roles that he took.

"But I also like action stuff."

Seventy two films will be shown over the next week.

In competition are eight features, eight documentaries and 28 shorts. Standards and expectations among this jury pool are high. "I want to be engaged, I want to be pulled into the story. I want to grow as a human being. I want to expand my heart and my mind and I want to make some sort of leap with the filmmakers and actors," said juror Karen Allen.

"I love films that open my eyes a lot wider or suck me out of my sense of knowing into the awareness of not knowing which I think is a much better place to start."

She admitted to having a deeper appreciation for European films than American ones. "I don't mind being entertained but I expect more than being spun a tale."

Like fellow juror David Ansen, however, Ms Allen has a fondness for classic American comedies of the 1940s and 50s.

An accomplished actress, Ms Allen has appeared in about 30 feature films including Malcolm X, Perfect Storm and Raiders of the Lost Ark and appears in the short Smallroom Dancing.

Movie critic David Ansens says he will judge the movies as an ordinary moviegoer - no preconceptions as to what a good movie is supposed to be will affect his judgment. "Does it make me laugh, does it hold my interest If you lose that primal reason as to why you go to movies in the first place, forget it. As a film critic you are both responding to the movie and watching yourself respond."

Movie marketer Valerie Vangalder, who makes her debut as a film festival juror, agrees. Films to watch, in the non competition category, he says, are Man on The Train and Spellbound. "It's one of those stories that instantly gets you and sucks you in," he said of Man on the Train. "A very interesting use of sound, good performances."

"Good story, original approach, innovation, good structure," said When Voices Rise director Errol Williams.

Director/cameraman, Daniel Gold whose film Blue Vinyl won BIFF's Best Documentary award last year, is back in Bermuda as a first time juror. "If I were to deconstruct, I would look at the quality of the editing, the quality of the directing, the quality of the cinematography and the storytelling. But I think it's probably better to just watch the film," he said.