ACCLAIMED director Peter Raymont will sit on the jury of the 2008 Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF).

And his most recent documentary, A Promise to the Dead: The Exile of Ariel Dorfman, will screen as part of a fundraising event for BIFF and the Bermuda chapter of Amnesty International.

A Promise to the Dead follows noted author, playwright and activist Ariel Dorfman on his return to Chile after years of exile in the United States.

A member of socialist president Salvadore Allende's inner circle, Mr. Dorfman was forced to flee the South American country after dictator Augusto Pinochet toppled the government in a bloody coup.

"The film seems to touch people really deeply," said Mr. Raymont. "At the world premiere (at the Toronto International Film Festival) last year, it received a standing ovation. There are thousands of people from Argentina and Chile now in the United States and Canada ¿ many who left at the time of the coup.

"I think it serves a very useful purpose in opening up that part of the world to people who know little about it. Whether you live in Bermuda, Canada or the United States, we all live in the Americas and yet we know very little of South America.

"The media has been focusing on Iraq and Afghanistan and the post 9/11 fear that Americans live under and there is a revolution going on there. Not a violent revolution, but all the countries have elected very progressive leaders in the last few years. Every country has an extraordinary, interesting, fascinating person leading it and I thought that was very important."

The filmmaker has visited the island on several occasions. An earlier documentary, Shake Hands with the Devil: the Journey of Romeo Dallaire, screened at BIFF 2005 and won an Emmy Award in 2007. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named A Promise to the Dead one of 15 films shortlisted for an Oscar Award last November. It left an equal impression two months earlier on BIFF deputy director Duncan Hall.

"When I watched the film at the Toronto International Film Festival I immediately saw the potential for the film festival to join forces with Amnesty International for a screening that could benefit us both," he said.

"The film is compelling and just the sort of socially conscious documentary that we love screening and our audiences love watching. We are delighted to have director Peter Raymont coming to Bermuda to present this important film."

Mr. Dorfman was born in Argentina but his family moved to the United States soon after his birth, before relocating to Chile in 1954. He adopted Chilean citizenship in 1967. A prolific writer, his most famous play, Death and the Maiden, was made into a 1994 by Roman Polanski starring Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley. A Promise to the Dead is based in part, on his memoir, Heading South, Looking North.

BIFF said: "The film is an exploration of exile, memory, longing and democracy through the words and memories of playwright / author / activist Ariel Dorfman. Born in Argentina, growing up in New York and Chile, Dorfman became cultural advisor to socialist president Salvador Allende in Chile. When the Allende government was toppled in the military coup of September 11, 1973, Dorfman was among a handful of Allende's inner circle to survive. Years later he was told that his life was spared because 'someone had to live to tell the story'."

Mr. Raymont said he was drawn to the film, convinced that its story was as relevant today as it was in 1973.

"I support films that look at human rights and social justice," the 57 year old stated. "I knew a bit about Ariel Dorfman. I had read a couple of his books and of course knew of Death and the Maiden. I didn't know a great deal about Chile. I knew about Pinochet and Allende. Allende was a great hero to my generation. He was a touchstone for many of us.

"It's not really so much my work, it's really a collaboration between Ariel Dorfman and I. He deserves just as much credit for the film."

The filmmaker met the Chilean activist three years ago at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, considered by many to be the premier festival for documentaries in the United States.

"Ariel Dorfman was on the board of the festival," he recalled. "He was a moderator of the panel I was on and I was very intimated as he is such a big figure in the literary world."

His fears proved unnecessary ¿ by the end of the festival the pair had decided to work together.

"It turned out he was wonderful, an easy going human being. We became very good friends and I said if he was going back to Chile, that maybe we could make a film together."

A Promise to the Dead was produced with the assistance of several respected agencies including the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund ¿ a grant Mr. Raymont acknowledges as an honour in itself.

"The Sundance Fund doesn't give too many grants and most of those that they give are for American productions, American documentaries," the Canadian filmmaker explained. "I don't think it hurt that Shake Hands with the Devil won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Sundance in 2005."

Since its 2007 premiere, A Promise to the Dead has screened at festivals around the world, named an official selection of the International Leipzig Documentary and Animated Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Shot in the United States, Argentina and Chile in late 2006, the filming coincided with Pinochet's death. The moment is captured in the film, most notably in a scene where Mr. Dorfman confronts a grieving supporter of the former dictator.

Said Mr. Raymont: "Pinochet died while we were there. It was an extraordinary moment for Chile and for Ariel. There is still something like one-third of the Chilean population that reveres Pinochet as a great man. (The confrontation) was a very telling, very important event in a moment where we're talking about the reconciliation that has to happen if the country is to get back on its feet. People on all sides need to come together and create a country, together."

The filmmaker admitted the moment wasn't one he had considered when he'd set out to make the documentary.

"We were just following (Ariel). He was on a personal quest. I wasn't asking him to do anything. We were just trying to keep up with him. I think it's a mistake to have too many expectations. What would happen when he encountered those people or went to those places, we had no idea. A lot of it was seat of the pants and it was wonderful to go back to Chile with Ariel. He was a great guide. It was a great way to see that culture."

The film offers a snapshot of the good and the bad of a culture still remarkable for all the injustice that occurred under its former leader.

"All of us at the Bermuda chapter of Amnesty are pleased that the film festival approached us with this idea for a joint fundraiser," said Amnesty International Bermuda section director Lucy Attride-Stirling. "At Amnesty we are of course, very aware of the coup that overthrew Allende, and of the violent injustices that occurred under the Pinochet regime."

Mr. Raymont said he was pleased to be a member of the 2008 BIFF jury.

"I was invited to be on the jury this year, which is a great honour," he enthused. "I get to see all the films, have the opportunity to watch the best from around the world and meet other jury members. I'm really looking forward to it and appreciative of the opportunity.

"I think the best films are made by people who care passionately about the subject and throw their heart in it. It's really all about the passion of the filmmaker."

A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman will screen on Sunday, March 30 at 4 p.m. at Liberty Theatre. Tickets are $50. The 11th Bermuda International Film Festival runs March 28 through April 5. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, at 10 a.m. at www.biff.bm and at the BIFF box office, Washington Lane, Hamilton.