Nassau, Bahamas – October 26, 2010 – The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), announced today that Sony Pictures Classics’ acclaimed comedy “Tamara Drewe” will be the opening film at this year’s festival, which takes place December 1-5 in Nassau. The special event screening will take place on Thursday, December 2nd at the Atlantis Theatre on Paradise Island. The announcement was made by BIFF Founder and Executive Director Leslie Vanderpool.

Directed by two time Academy Award® nominee Stephen Frears (“High Fidelity,” “The Queen,” “Dangerous Liasons”), the film stars Gemma Arterton (“Prince of Persia,” “Clash of the Titans,” “Quantum of Solace”) in the title role, along with Roger Allam (“V for Vendetta,” “The Queen”), Bill Camp (“Public Enemies,” “Deception”), Dominic Cooper (“Mama Mia!” “An Education”), Luke Evens (“Robin Hood,” “Clash of the Titans”) and Tamisn Greig (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Falling Apart”). The screenplay was written by Moira Buffini.

Based on Posy Simmonds’ beloved graphic novel of the same name (which was itself inspired by Thomas Hardy’s classic Far From the Madding Crowd) this wittily modern take on the romantic English pastoral is a far cry from Hardy’s Wessex. Tamara Drewe’s present-day English countryside—stocked with pompous writers, rich weekenders, bourgeois bohemians, a horny rock star, and a great many Buff Orpington chickens and Belted Galloway cows—is a much funnier place. When Tamara Drewe sashays back to the bucolic village of her youth, life for the locals is thrown upside down. Tamara—once an ugly duckling—has been transformed into a devastating beauty (with help from plastic surgery). As infatuations, jealousies, love affairs and career ambitions collide among the inhabitants of the neighboring farmsteads, Tamara sets a contemporary comedy of manners into play using the oldest magic in the book—sex appeal.

The film was an Official Selection of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, 2010 Telluride Film Festival and 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. “Tamara Drewe” is produced by Alison Owen, Paul Trijbits and Tracey Seaward. Executive Producers are Christine Langan, Sharon Harel and Maya Amsellem.

BIFF 2010 begins Wednesday, December 1^st and runs through Sunday, December 5^th. 

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For ticket information please visit www.bintlfilmfest.com.

About the Bahamas International Film Festival

The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) is a nonprofit organization committed to providing the local community and international festival-goers with a diverse presentation of films from the Bahamas and around the world. In addition to showcasing films that might not otherwise be released theatrically, BIFF provides unique cultural experiences, educational programs, and forums for exploring the past, present and future of cinema. BIFF aims to raise the level of filmmaking, participation and education throughout the Bahamas and the world.

Key Sponsors of the 2010 BIFF are; Ministry of Tourism, Atlantis, Old Fort Bay Club, The Nature Conservancy, Galleria Cinema, Starbucks, Ministry of Culture, Nine to Five Import Export, Custom Computers, College of The Bahamas, Bahamas Local and many more .