More than 1,000 youngsters will benefit this year from a free education programme being run by Bermuda International Film Festival.

The BIFF Film Academy — part of the 17th annual film festival being held from March 21 to 27 and sponsored by Montpelier Re — will target primary school pupils with its BIFF Kids programme and middle and high school students with Reel Talk documentary screenings.

David O’Beirne, BIFF’s director of programming, said: “Beyond the entertainment that BIFF provides to its adult audience, we also recognise festival week as an opportunity to provide education and inspiration to young people in Bermuda.

“It’s our aim to create a supportive environment in which home-grown filmmaking talent can flourish and to focus confusion and frustration directly into positive expression. But more than that, we want to demonstrate how films unlock knowledge and understanding about people, places and new subjects.

“The silver screen is a powerful means of communication — full of messages, morals and metaphors — that enable us all to expand our minds and to travel without leaving our cinema seat.”

In the BIFF Kids sessions tomorrow and Monday, storybooks will be read to primary schoolchildren followed by a screening of a film adaptation. This year’s texts are ‘Abel’s Island’, ‘The North Star’ and ‘The Talking Eggs’.

The Reel Talk screenings on March 25, 26 and 27 will feature ‘Dancing in Jaffa’, a documentary about the homecoming of renowned ballroom dancer Pierre Dulain to the town of Jaffa, Israel, after decades abroad.

The screenings will be followed by a Skype discussion with director Hilla Medalia about the issues raised by the documentary.