Freeport, Bahamas - The third annual the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) On Location: Grand Bahama Island dates have been announced! The film festival will run in Freeport from October 24 – 27th, 2013. Organizers have expanded the film competition and are calling for original Bahamian films nationwide for competition in three categories: High School, College and Open.

The Bahamas High School Film Competition is open to every high school student who is a resident of The Bahamas and between the ages of 14 and 18 years on the 1st August 2012. The Bahamas College Film Competition is also open to every college student who is a resident of The Bahamas.

Students are invited to present a film of 5 minutes or shorter addressing a theme of their choice. The contestant will be known and referred to as the Director who is the one who has the idea and organizes the production of the film and assumes overall responsibility for every aspect of the film. A Director may enter as many films as they like, but each entry must be original and entered separately.

Participants in the open Bahamian Filmmaker Competition may choose to submit short films - up to 30 minutes; or feature films - up to 90 minutes. Films in every category must be in produced in HD format.

All contestants will be able to see the status of their entry on the Bahamas Film Commission: Grand Bahama Facebook page. Finalists must provide a written synopsis of their film (1-5 sentences) ; a trailer (preview) of their film in HD format :30 – 1:00 in length) and supply 5 copies of their production on playable DVDs along with 2 DVD data discs containing the movie files in .mov or .avi file formats. All contestants must submit at least one photo of either the director, the star, or the full cast/crew. Production photos are also welcome.

Last year, a total of twelve films from Nassau and Grand Bahama ranging in duration from two minutes to sixty-three minutes, participated in the Bahamian Film and High School competitions. This year entries are expected to come from all of the Islands of The Bahamas. American film star and FLIFF 2012 career tribute recipient, Giancarlo Esposito said " It is a wonderful thing what film does for us is, in that it renews and reestablishes our awareness not only of who we are, but what we aren't, and who we may want to become. We were able to be together as human beings, and to laugh and to cry, and to really be educated...through film. We can learn a lot about The Bahamas as well by fostering, and raising up, and educating young Bahamian filmmakers."

Contestants are invited to submit their entries to fliff@bahamas.com The deadline for submissions is August 1st, 2013. For more information contact Donna Mackey, ( dmackey@bahamas.com ) Senior Manager Film Development, Ministry of Tourism & Aviation, Grand Bahama Island. Check out the Facebook page: "Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Film Festival On Location: Grand Bahama Island" for photos and information.

Hosted at Canal House, Pelican Bay Resort, FLIFF on Location will also feature international, outdoor screenings, a Lifetime Achievement Award, specialist workshops, an island locations familiarization tour for international filmmakers, and an awards and wrap party at the Grand Lucayan Resort.

FLIFF On Location: Grand Bahama Island is a collaboration between the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board. The event has been made possible through the generous support of the following sponsors: Pelican Bay Hotel; TheBahamasWeekly.com; Mackey Media Ltd; Bahamas Celebration Cruises; Bahamasair; Balearia Bahamas Express; The Grand Bahama Port Authority Limited; Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board; FLIFF; Ministry of Tourism and SkyBahamas Airlines.

PHOTO CAPTION: A call for Bahamian films is now underway for the High School, College and Open categories. 2012 Bahamian high school film category winner, Tiahjah Smith of Sunland Baptist Academy (in striped shirt) with Donna Mackey of the Bahamas Film Commission / Ministry of Tourism (far left) and Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) founder, Gregory Von Hausch (far right). Also seen are Senator Tanisha Tynes (second left) and actor Mia Rolle (second from right) from Tiahjah Smith's film, "The Blame". Photo: Mackey Media Ltd