THOSE without television - and in need of entertainment - will be pleased to learn that the Bermuda International Film Festival is to screen its September selection on Thursday.

Divine Intervention, winner of the grand jury prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, will screen at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute at 7.30 p.m.

Directed by Palestinian Elia Suleiman, the film is now in wide theatrical release. It follows ES, a character played by and based upon the film-maker, said film series co-ordinator Clare Wood.

"ES is burdened by a sick father, a stalled screenplay and an unrequited love affair with a beautiful Palestinian woman living in Ramallah. An Israeli checkpoint on the Nazareth-Ramallah road forces the couple to rendezvous in an adjacent parking lot. Their relationship and the absurd situations around them serve as metaphors for the lunacy of larger cultural problems and the result is palpable, bottled personal and political rage.

"Mr. Suleiman delivers a darkly comic masterpiece. Of course, the film is particularly apt in the light of the current political situation in the Middle East."

Tickets to BIFF Film Nights are $5 for BIFF Film Club members, and $8 for non-members. Filmgoers can reserve tickets by e-mailing BIFF at bdafilmibl.bm or by calling the BIFF office at 293-3456. Tickets can be picked up at the BUEI from 6.30 p.m. on the evening of the screening.