The Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF) is courting the Island’s aspiring film directors and actors with its latest offerings for younger audiences.

The festival, which starts today and runs until April 18, has unveiled the BIFF Kids Programme for primary schoolchildren, and Reel Talk for middle school and high schoolers.

Said programming director David O’Beirne: “It’s our aim to create a supportive environment in which home-grown filmmaking talent can flourish.”

The programmes can also show young people how they can use films to learn, he said.

Children will have books read to them, followed by a viewing of its film adaptation, for the BIFF Kids sessions, sponsored by Montpelier Re.

This year’s texts are ‘The True Story of the Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Stanley and the Dinosaurs’. Classes from around the Island have been invited.

Reel Talk documentary screenings are also free for older students, courtesy of sponsors Argo.

Two sessions will focus on the documentary ‘Brooklyn Castle’, about the celebrated chess team of a poverty-stricken inner city junior high school in the US.