Four Bermuda-made films will hit the screens this weekend at the 11th annual Bermuda International Film Festival.

First to screen will be "Crabbo" a four-minute short from Island resident Sami Lill with an environmental message about overdevelopment on the Island.

This animated short will give audiences pause to take a look at what all those cranes are doing on this Island and to what end.

"Crabbo" will be shown at 3.45 p.m. today at Liberty Theatre before the Bermuda documentary "Behind the Mask: Bermuda Gombeys Past, Present and Future".

This 90-minute film from Bermudians Adrian Kawaley-Lathan and Khalilah Robinson offers a fascinating overview of the Gombey tradition.

"Historically, the Gombeys were not viewed as a respectable art form by the ruling class," notes the BIFF programme. "Slaves were allowed to dance only once a year, and did so in masks in order to protest, without fear of retribution, against the injustices put upon them by their slave masters." (For a review of 'Behind the Mask', see Monday's Royal Gazette.) "Behind the Mask" and "Crabbo" will also be shown on Monday at 9.15 p.m. at BUEI auditorium.

Also at Liberty Theatre tonight at 9.15, the LookBermuda film "Old School/New School" will be screened before the musical documentary "Africa Unite".

"Old School/New School" brings together veteran Calypso performer Stan Seymour (aka Lord Necktie) with up and coming musician Gavin (Sundjata) Smith. The 15-minute short marks LookBermuda's first entry at BIFF.

Mr. Seymour was a monumental figure on the Island music scene in the 1960s and 70s. His 1963 "Diddlybops and Gooseneck Handlebars" was a hit around the Caribbean, while Mr. Smith is the founder of Chewstick, an open mic night for up and coming artists. Bringing the two men together bridges the generations and offers the men an opportunity to opine on Bermuda's music industry and then jam together as perform both Diddlybops and Mr. Smith's Island-themed song "Kite".

"We are excited to have 'Old School/New School' as our first entry into this year's festival," said J.P. Rouja, managing director of LookBermuda.

"The festival is hosting a number of films about music this year and we think that Old School/NewSchool makes a great addition to the line-up. We hope the audiences enjoy it."

"Old School/New School" will also have a second showing on Tuesday at 6.30 p.m. at BUEI auditorium, screening before another musical documentary 'Soweto Strings'.

And on Sunday, a fourth local film will open when the short-film "Bermuda 2018" is shown at 3.45 p.m. at BUEI auditorium before the animated feature "Dobrinya and the Dragon".

Bermuda 2018 is a claymation offering from Bermuda's youngest filmmakers — students at Mount St. Agnes Academy. Bermuda 2018 projects on what Bermuda will look like in ten years and was made with the help of the schools graphic arts teacher Craig Diamond. The students — age 16 and 17 — worked on all elements of the film including script and storyboard, lighting and sound, character development and of course animation.

The eight-minute fruit of their labour will be screened just once at the festival so make sure to get your tickets.

These local efforts are among 53 films which will be shown over the weekend. For full details on BIFF's line-up see the festival's ad in today's paper and see reviews of films in this section.

Tickets are available in advance from the BIFF Box Office on Washington Lane, online at www.biff.bm and at the theatres on the day of the screenings.