The 2nd Annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF), which takes place June 10-16, 2011, announced its lineup, which included a diverse array of films from 13 different countries and feature several international premieres.

Among the titles, the international premieres at AIFF include the Massimiliano Bruno directed Italian comedy “Nessuno mi puo giudicare” (English title “Nobody Can Judge Me”); American drama “Meet Monica Velour,” written and directed by Keith Bearden; the Mario Van Peebles directed drama “Things Fall Apart” starring rapper, actor and multi-tiered business mogul Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who will be attending the Festival; and “Tequila” directed by Sergio Sanchez Suarez.

AIFF will open with “Meet Monica Velour” starring Golden Globe(R) Award winning actress Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City” franchise, “The Ghost Writer”) who will kick-off the Festival’s opening night Red Carpet on Friday, June 10th at Paseo Herencia.

The Festival’s “In Conversation With…” series will start on Saturday, June 11, 2011 with the Oscar(R) winning director Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Manchurian Candidate”). Demme is also presenting his film “The Agronomist,” which will be followed by a Q&A.

Kim Cattrall, BAFTA Film Award-winning Hollywood costume designer Michael Kaplan (“Blade Runner,” “Burlesque,” “Fight Club”) and Academy Award(R) nominated director Milcho Manchevski (“Before the Rain,” “Mothers”) will also take part in the “In Conversation With…” series with particiaption dates scheduled to be announced in the next few days.

Milcho Manchevski will introduce his latest film “Mothers”  which he wrote and directed, and also screen his Macedonian drama “Before the Rain,” which earned him an Oscar(R) nomination and 12 award wins.

Among the international stars confirmed to attend AIFF are Italian actress Paola Cortellesi (“Nessuno mi puo ’ guidicare-Nobody Can Judge Me,” “Piano, solo”), director Sergio Sanchez Suarez (“Tequila”) and his leading actress Daniela Schmidt (“Casi divas,” “Sea of Dreams”), Mexican actress Barbara Mori (“Kites,” “La mujer de mi hermano,” “Ugly Me”), Italian actor and screenwriter Alessandro Calza (“Ciao”), and Polish director and artist Lech Majewski (“The Mill and the Cross,” “Angelus”). Additional names will be announced in the coming weeks.

The official AIFF lineup is comprised of the following films:

BEFORE THE RAIN (Country: Republic of Macedonia / Director: Milcho Manchevski)
BEGINNERS (Country: USA / Director: Mike Mills)
BIBLIOTHEQUE PASCAL (Country: Hungary / Director: Szabolcs Hajdu)
CIAO! (Country: USA / Director: Yen Tan)
EVEN THE RAIN (Country: Spain / Director: Iciar Bollain)
HERMANO (Country: Venezuela / Director: Marcel Rasquin)
KITES (Country: India / Director: Anurag Basu)
MADE IN HUNGARY (Country: Hungary / Director: Gergely Fonyo)
MEET MONICA VELOUR (Country: USA / Director: Keith Bearden)
MOTHERS (Country: Republic of Macedonia / Director: Milcho Manchevski)
NESSUNO MI PUO’ GIUDICARE (Country: Italy / Director: Massimiliano Bruno)
TATANKA (Country: Italy / Director: Giuseppe Gagliardi)
THE SON OF NO ONE (Country: USA / Director: Dito Montiel)
TEQUILA (Country: Mexico / Director: Sergio Sanchez Suarez)
THE AGRONOMIST (Country: USA / Director: Jonathan Demme)
THE BIG BANG (Country: USA / Director: Tony Krantz)
THE GUARD (Country: Ireland / Director: John Michael McDonagh)
THE LIFE OF FISH (Country: Chile / Director: Matias Bize)
THE MILL AND THE CROSS (Country: Poland / Director: Lech Majewski)
THINGS FALL APART (Country: USA / Director: Mario Van Peebles)

**Caribbean Spotlight Series (CSS)

Encouraged by strong local support last year, AIFF expanded its popular “Spotlight” series, which was created to showcases movies from Aruban and Caribbean filmmakers. Having proved its popularity among locals, the Festival has created a broader experience for the series this year. There will be an official competition, jury and award, as well an audience award.

The three person CSS jury consists of journalists Noel DeSouza and Rosalie Klein and producer Emmanuel Itier. They are charged with evaluating and selecting the competition winner and bestowing the Festival’s first competition award.

The winner of the CSS Audience Award will receive a $1,500 cash prize.

CSS Films In Competition

100,000 (Country: Puerto Rico/ Director: Juan Agustin Marquez)
CHILDREN OF GOD (Country: Bahamas/ Director: Kareem Mortimer)
CURACAO (Country: Netherlands/ Director: Sarah Vos and Sander Snoep)
FIRE BURN BABYLON: (Country: Montserrat/United Kingdom/ Director: Sarita Siegel)
VOICES OF MARIEL: (Country: Cuba/USA/ Director: Jim Carleton)

CSS Special Screenings (Not in Competition)

LA FUGA: (Country: Puerto Rico/ Director: Edmundo H. Rodriguez
RISE UP: (Country: Jamaica/ Director: Luciano Blotta)

The full AIFF program is available to print online at www.arubafilmfest.com.

[ via AIFF ]