A DOCUMENTARY film-maker - whose first effort was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination - is to premiere his first feature during the Bermuda International Film Festival later this month.

Peter Spirer received recognition from the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences for his documentary Blood Ties, based on the life and work of Sally Mann, in 1994 and has made several documentaries since.

The process, he said yesterday, was hugely different to that he experienced while working on Dunsmore, his feature film. "I like both worlds," he said, "but my feature film was the easiest I've ever done. First, you have a script, which makes all the world of difference; secondly, when making a documentary, it's a much longer process and you're never sure exactly what the end result will be."

Based on an episode of the A&E series City Confidential, Dunsmore details shocking, gruesome and true incidents which took place in Dunsmore, a quiet, one-road town in the backwoods of Florida.

The tale begins with the brutal murder of a local bully, Ronny Roy Pritcher, and follows its investigation as the media, the State Attorney General's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation descend on the small town. What they find, although none of the townsfolk saw, heard or know anything, is that everyone has a story to tell.

"I thought it made a decent documentary," said Mr. Spirer, "but I thought it would have made a much better film. It really intrigued me, the idea that an entire town could keep a secret from an Attorney General's deputy and even the FBI. (At the end) they decided there had probably been 30 to 40 people involved in the cover-up."

An incredible cast and crew helped bring his image to life, Mr. Spirer said. And he believes he has managed to avoid the pitfalls experienced by so many other independent film-makers.

"I brought a lot of documentary experience to the narrative world and that really helped but it really helped that I had an incredible crew.

"We had three weeks of pre-production and virutally no rehearsal time. It was a very low-budget film but I am extremely pleased with the results. It came across very well.

"Many (independent films fail) because they tend to show a break in footage in the film or there's a leap of logic or the script falls apart. I don't think we have any of those problems. So I'm very happy with it."

Choosing Bermuda as the site to premiere Dunsmore was another coup, he added.

"This is our first real premiere of the film and I've been really lucky to be able to show it in Bermuda."

4 The sixth Bermuda International Film Festival will be held from April 11-17 at the Liberty, Little and Southside theatres. Some 72 films from 17 countries make up this year's line-up.

Tickets are now on sale at the Visitors' Service Bureau box office from Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., and after April 10, at the theatres.