Two prize winners from the Cannes Film Festival are among the 12 films selected for screening in the Best of World Cinema showcase at the 2003 Bermuda International Film Festival, April 11-17.

The Pianist, by director Roman Polanski, won Best Film at Cannes and captured the same award at the BAFTA awards in the United Kingdom and the Cesars in France, and is nominated for an Academy Award. The film's executive producer, Timothy Burrill, sits on BIFF's International Advisory Board (IAB).

Respiro, by Italian director Emanuela Crialese won the Critics' Week Prize at Cannes and has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, whose co-president and co-founder, Tom Bernard, sits on BIFF's IAB.

Sony Pictures Classics has also provided Laurel Canyon, starring Frances McDormand and Kate Beckinsale, for the Best of World Cinema section.

"We have added a world showcase this year to show films like The Pianist and Respiro that, while they may have been around the festival circuit, will not likely make their way to Bermuda outside the festival," said BIFF director Aideen Ratteray Pryse.

The world showcase films are: The Good Thief (d. Neil Jordan, UK/France/Ireland) The Good Thief is a caper film about a man trying to make good while he pulls off a perfect last heist. Bob Montagnet is an ex-thief, inveterate gambler and committed heroin addict. With the chance to steal artwork worth millions, and tempted by Anne, he drags himself through withdrawal and emerges as a gentleman gambler. Backed by his loyal crew, Bob breathes new life into con-artistry.

House of Fools (d. Andrei Konchalovsky, Russia/France) The first Chechen war is taking place in 1996 and a psychiatric hospital near the border is at a crossroads of war conflicts. Janna and the other patients are oblivious to the world outside. The patients are stunned when the train that passes by every night suddenly doesn't come. The next day they find the medical staff has left. Janna and the others are left to fend for themselves in growing chaos. All the while, the war comes closer and closer.

Laurel Canyon (d. Lisa Cholodenko, United States) The lives of uptight lovebirds Sam and Alex are thrown into disarray when they go to live with Sam's music producer mother Jane. As Sam and Alex settle in, they gradually lose their straight-and-narrow approach to life and begin to experiment. Ian, Jane's young rocker boyfriend, is happy to accommodate Alex, while co-worker Sara woos Sam.

The Longing (Das Verlangen) (d. Iain Dilthey, Germany) Lena, a dutiful and generous woman, lives a barren life of near servitude and barely concealed cruelty. She spends her days nursing her mean-spirited and violently ungrateful sister-in-law, returning home to prepare food for her husband whose interest in her extends only to the nightly but joyless exploitation of his conjugal rights. Susanne Wrage's performance as the semi-catatonic Lena is astounding. She renders the unlikely story of a woman who remains utterly placid in the face of continual persecution but reacts violently to the merest hint of love entirely believable, and quite unforgettable.

A Lucky Day (Un Dia de Suerte) (d. Sandra Gugliotta, Argentina/Italy) In A Lucky Day, Elsa is a middle-class young woman working odd jobs to make a living. She has dreams for her future, despite living in a country that seems to have little to offer her. Taking fate into her own hands, Elsa travels to Italy retracing the steps of her grandfather who fled Italy for Argentina years ago.

The Man on the Train (L'Homme du train) ( d. Patrice Leconte, France) Man on the Train focuses on the relationship between two men who, normally, would be unlikely to meet. Milan, an ageing gangster who arrives in town by train to hit a bank, and Manesquier, an elegant retiree, who lives in casual splendour in a mansion. Whilst the two are opposites, they develop a bond, daydreaming about living each other's life.

Only the Strong Survive (d. D.A. Pennebaker & Chris Hegedus, USA) Documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, along with journalist Roger Friedman, had a mission: to catch up with the great soul singers of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of these legends of soul are still around, but largely ignored, until now. In a toe-tapping tribute to the great soul singers of yesteryear, the team put together a concert reuniting many of the stars of that time: Wilson Pickett, Jerry Butler, Mary Wilson, The Chi-Lites, Isaac Hayes and more.

The Pianist (d. Roman Polanski, UK-France-Italy-Netherlands-Poland) Wladyslaw Szpilman, a brilliant Polish pianist, a Jew, escapes deportation to the concentration camps. Forced to live in the heart of the Warsaw ghetto, he shares the suffering, the humiliation and the struggles. He manages to hide in the ruins of the capital, where he receives aid from an unexpected source.

Respiro (d. Emanuele Crialese, Italy) Lampedusa, an island near western Sicily. Rival gangs of boys play roughly on seaside cliffs. Husbands go out to sea and wives work in the fish-packing plant. Grazia is the affectionate young mother of a teenaged girl and two boys. She sings along to Patti Pravo hits and finds ways to amuse herself and her children, but her free-spirited attitude causes talk in the entire village. As her behaviour becomes more reckless, even the shield of her family's love can't protect her. Winner of the Best Film Prize in Critics' Week section of Cannes 2002.

Spellbound (d. Jeff Blitz, United States) Every year out of 9 million students from across USA, 249 qualify to compete in the National Spelling Bee. This documentary follows eight boys and girls, revealing their preparation for the spelling bee and the diversity of American culture. All the students profiled are intelligent and determined, but each has a unique story and reason for wanting to be the champion.

State of the Nation (d. Barbara Albert, Michael Glawogger, Ulrich Seidl, Michael Sturminger, Austria) In the January 2000 elections large numbers of Austrian citizens voted for Jorg Haidler's far-right party, prompting four Austrian filmmakers to take their cameras to the people to find out about the state of the nation. The film's subjects are often unintentionally, but disturbingly, funny as they display flawed logic to express fears based on economic deprivation, political alienation, ignorance and fear.

Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (d. Richard Ray Perez and Joan Sekler, United States) A disturbing look at the contentious US presidential election run-off in Florida that introduced the world to hanging chads, and caused the nation to question the democratic electoral process. The filmmakers explore how George W. Bush prevailed by the slimmest of margins in the home state of his brother, closely examining suspicious electoral irregularities and injustices.