Festival Founder and Executive Director Leslie Vanderpool today announced the final program details for the 7th edition of the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), which takes place December 1-5, 2010 in Nassau. The Weinstein Company’s highly acclaimed period drama “The King’s Speech” has been selected as this year’s closing night film.

Based on the true story of the Queen of England’s father and his remarkable friendship with maverick Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue “The King’s Speech” stars Academy Award® nominee Colin Firth (A Single Man) as King George VI, who unexpectedly becomes King when his brother Edward abdicates the throne. Academy Award® Winner Geoffrey Rush (Shine) stars as Logue, the man who helps the King find a voice with which to lead the nation into war.

The multi-award-winning cast includes Helena Bonham Carter (“Alice In Wonderland”) as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Guy Pearce (“The Hurt Locker”), Derek Jacobi (“The Golden Compass”), Timothy Spall (“The Damned United”) and Michael Gambon (“Harry Potter”). The film is directed by Tom Hooper (“The Damned United”) from a screenplay by David Seidler (“Tucker: The Man and His Dream”).

This year, the Festival will showcase 56 films from 17 different countries, including 27 features of which several are world or international premieres and nearly all Bahamian premieres. The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative ; Spirit of Freedom: Documentary ; New Visions ; and Short Film . Special sections include Caribbean and Environmental sidebars as well as a World Cinema showcase.

The official BIFF feature lineup is comprised of the following films:

In addition, A list of the 36 short films screening at the festival can be found online at www.bintlfilmfest.com .

It was previously announced that Sony Pictures Classics’ critically lauded comedy “Tamara Drewe” will be the Opening Film at this year’s festival. The Opening Night Film screening will be on Thursday, December 2nd at the Atlantis Theatre on Paradise Island. 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 Bahamas International Film Festival is also continuing its efforts to educate and inspire a new generation of filmmakers. The Festival announced today that it will be expanding its popular Youth Film Workshop during the seventh annual BIFF by partnering with schools throughout Nassau and integrating the workshops directly into classrooms.

BIFF is also proud to be bringing back the Filmmaker’s Residency Program. In years past BIFF has exclusively provided the Bahamian and Caribbean community with the opportunity to receive invaluable mentoring from industry professionals. This year BIFF has expanded to include filmmakers from around the world to submit screenplays that are based in The Bahamas or Caribbean region.

The Filmmakers’ Residency Program nurtures new filmmakers and screenwriters by providing them with an unrivaled opportunity to spend a full day with accomplished professionals who make a living working in the industry from Los Angeles and New York.

BIFF 2010 begins Wednesday, December 1^st and runs through Sunday, December 5^th. For additional information please visit www.bintlfilmfest.com .