the contributions they make to the community. Sometimes this newspaper receives too little credit for the space it devotes to young people but, be that as it may, we have been extremely impressed by the inventiveness and the success of the recent film festival.

The festival seems to us to be a large contribution to Bermuda in a wide variety of ways and much of the thanks for that contribution must go to Aideen Ratteray Pryse. She was the moving force behind the festival and we can only applaud both her energy and her ideas. We suspect that she would say today that she could not have done it without a great deal of community help and that is doubtlessly true. She had great help with the business end of the festival from Andrew Vaucrosson who organised corporate support. Bermuda has a long history of volunteerism and this festival is no exception. We applaud the entire effort.

It was a very impressive first festival with the potential to become a fixture of the Bermuda calendar. The quality of the films was generally high and challenging and the organisation appears to have been very good. That will be welcome news for those people who feel that there should be a greater variety of entertainment in Bermuda for both locals and visitors. While a film festival comprised of "art films''' may be a specialised thing, it does add quality and variety to what Bermuda offers. We see it as a welcome follow-on to the Bermuda Festival.

Too often people dismiss Bermuda as a "cultural desert'' and that is simply not true today. Just look at the explosion in painting and sculpture or the success the National Gallery has had in five years. A film festival is a welcome addition.

The first festival has already attracted a number of guests and visitors to Bermuda and the presence of Jayne Alexander, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States, as a judge gave this first effort stature. It is remarkable that Bermuda was able to contribute a qualified judge in Tim Hodgson. Everyone recognises that it is valuable to have events which specifically attract visitors as well as events which take place in the regular course of the year and add to the visitor experience but do not necessarily attract people here.

We think this film festival has the potential to grow into a major Bermuda event. The Bermuda Festival has done so with remarkable success. A rival to the Cannes Film Festival? Probably not, but other festivals like the Toronto Film Festival do draw people to their locations. That is what Bermuda needs.

It is exciting to see young Bermudians get involved in a major community project and succeed. Bermuda owes Mrs. Ratteray Pryse and her helpers its thanks.