The Bermuda International Film Festival has announced a line-up of award-winning films for this year’s event.

Biff’s programme will include three films nominated for Academy Awards as well as prize-winning films from the Cannes, Sundance and Toronto film festivals.

The line-up includes Cold War, the winner of best film at the 2018 European Film Awards, Shoplifters, the winner of the Palme d’Or for best film at the Cannes Film Festival, and Free Solo, nominated for an Academy Award in the best documentary feature category

Cold War, which is also nominated for an Oscar for the best foreign language film, focuses on a romance set against the backdrop of the Iron Curtain and Communist-dominated Eastern Europe.

Shoplifters, a film about a band of outsiders united in crime, has also been nominated for the best foreign language film Oscar.

Free Solo, a portrait of the free solo climber Alex Honnold, was the winner of the People’s Choice Award for a documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival and best documentary winner at the 2019 Baftas.

The film festival will run from March 10 to 17.

Tickets for all films and the festival’s master classes and parties, are on sale at biff.ptix.bm

All films will screen at Earl Cameron Theatre, at City Hall in Hamilton, with the exception of Bentley’s Will, which will screen in the Tradewinds Auditorium at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute on East Broadway.

The festival line-up

Narrative feature films

Ladies in Black

This stylish, charming and romantic film by director Bruce Beresford [Driving Miss Daisy] is set in Sydney Australia in 1959 as shy schoolgirl Lisa is awakened to a world of possibilities when she takes a summer job on the high fashion floor of a department store and is taken under the wings of the ladies in black. Rated PG. Screening Wednesday, March 13, 8.45pm.

Non-Fiction

Actress Juliette Binoche reunites with acclaimed director Olivier Assayas for this witty, fast-paced, slyly seductive and unmistakably French tale of sex, lies and literature set amid the Bohemian intelligentsia of the Paris publishing world. Rated R. Thursday, March 14, 6.30pm.

Shoplifters

Shoplifters is winner of the Palme d’Or for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. On the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by fierce loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence and test their quietly radical belief that it is love, not blood, that defines a family. Rated R. Friday, March 15, 8.45pm.

Stan and Ollie

Steve Coogan [nominated, Best Leading Actor, 2019 Baftas] and John C Reilly star as Laurel and Hardy, one of the world’s great comedy teams, who set out on a variety hall tour of Britain in 1953. A portrait of the most tender and poignant of creative marriages, they are aware that they may be approaching their swan song, trying to rediscover just how much they mean to each other. Rated PG. Nominated, Best British Film, 2019 Baftas. This is the Closing Gala Film, Sunday, March 17, 8pm.

Bentley’s Will

This screening is part of “An Evening with Lana Young”, a special event to celebrate the film and television career of the Bermudian actress. The film tells the story of an estranged mother [Young] and son [Phillip Andre Botello], who over the course of a day begin the slow process of healing while searching for their missing dog. International premiere. Sunday, March 10, 6pm.

Documentary features

Studio 54

A highly entertaining documentary about the rise and fall of legendary nightclub Studio 54. It was an instant success and a cash cow, but it soon imploded in financial scandal. Former co-owner Ian Schrager tells the whole, unvarnished story for the first time. Rated 15. Tuesday, March 12, 6.30pm.

Three Identical Strangers

This Sundance Award-winning documentary tells the story of triplets who find each other after being raised by different families. After an initial celebration, the film turns into a thriller with colossal implications as an extraordinary and disturbing secret is unearthed. Rated PG-13. Wednesday, March 13, 6.30pm.

Crime and Punishment

This powerful and important Sundance Award-winning documentary tells the story of black and Latino whistleblower police officers who risk everything when they decide to expose racially discriminatory policing practices, systemic retaliation and corruption in the New York Police Department. Rated 14-A. Thursday, March 14, 8.45pm.

The Corporate Coup d’État

Donald Trump and right-wing populist movements around the world are the logical result of a creeping, corporate coup d’état that has taken over established political parties, both “liberal” and “conservative”. This investigative and persuasive documentary tells the story of how the coup happened and shows its disastrous effects on society’s most vulnerable citizens. There will be a question-and-answer session with producer Peter Raymont. Friday, March 15, 3pm.

Free Solo

A portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream, climbing the face of the world’s most famous rock the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, without a rope. Winner, People’s Choice Award [Documentary], Toronto International Film Festival; Winner, Best Documentary, 2019 Baftas, and nominated for Best Documentary Feature Academy Award. Rated PG-13. Friday, March 15, 6.30pm.

Sharkwater Extinction

Film-maker Rob Stewart [Sharkwater, Revolution] exposes the massive illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it — a conspiracy that is leading to the extinction of sharks. Shot in West Africa, Spain, Panama, Costa Rica, France and the United States, the film dives into the often violent underworld of the pirate fishing trade to expose a multibillion-dollar industry. Rated 14-A. Saturday, March 16, 2pm.

Bill Murray Stories

The stories of comedy icon Bill Murray showing up in the most unexpected places and spending time with complete strangers are legend. Warm-hearted and soul-enriching, the film is one man’s laugh-out-loud journey to find meaning in Murray’s many unexpected adventures with everyday people. Rated PG. Saturday, March 16, 4pm.

A Story of Mezcal

Local film-makers Antoine Hunt and Juliz Ritchie explore the centuries old process of making mescal, wrapped in the beauty of the rugged wilds of Mexico. Experiencing mezcal’s essence, viewers enter its many worlds and wander its many paths. The destination is everywhere, and the journey is intoxicating. There will be a question-and-answer session with the film-makers. Saturday, March 16, 6pm.

Mr SOUL!

Before Oprah, before Arsenio, there was Ellis Haizlip. Hip, smart, and charismatic, he was the host and executive producer of SOUL!, the first “black Tonight Show”. Narrated by Blair Underwood, Mr SOUL! invites us behind the scenes of this groundbreaking phenomenon, from its initial conception to its final broadcast, including the very public battle to keep it on the air despite a shifting political landscape. Co-winner, Best Music Documentary, 2018 International Documentary Association Awards. Rated 14-A. Saturday, March 16, 8.45pm.

Pick of the Litter

Cameras follow a litter of puppies — Patriot, Potomac, Primrose, Poppet, and Phil — from the moment they’re born through an intense two-year odyssey as they train to become dogs whose ultimate responsibility is to protect their blind partners from harm. Winner of eight festival awards including six audience choice awards. Rated PG. Sunday, March 17, 2pm.

• All films will screen at Earl Cameron Theatre, City Hall, with the exception of Bentley’s Will, which will screen in the Tradewinds Auditorium at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.