The Bermuda International Film Festival will be offering a special screening this year of a film by an acclaimed documentarian in conjunction with the Bermuda chapter of Amnesty International.

The film to be screened — 'A Promise to the Dead: the Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman' — tells the tale of one of the sole surviving members of the inner circle of Chilean socialist president Salvador Allende, who was ousted from power in a September 11, 1973 military coup.

The film explores exile, memory, longing and democracy through the words and memories of playwright-author-activist Ariel Dorfman ('Death and the Maiden', 'How to Read Donald Duck', 'Other Septembers').

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 coup which brought dictator Augusto Pinochet to power, Dorfman was among a handful of Allende's team to survive.

Years later, he was told that his life was spared because "someone had to live to tell the story".

'A Promise to the Dead' was filmed in the United States, Argentina and Chile in late 2006, coinciding with the death of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The film's director Peter Raymont will be attending the screening at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 30 at Liberty Theatre.

Mr. Raymont's previous documentary, 'Shake Hands with the Devil: the Journey of Romeo Dallaire', screened at BIFF in 2005 and went on to be honoured as a co-recipient of the 2007 Emmy Award for Best Documentary Film.

"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," said BIFF deputy director Duncan Hall of 'A Promise to the Dead'.

"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."

Tickets for the film will be $50, with proceeds being split evenly between BIFF and Amnesty International.

"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.

In fact, there is even a Bermuda angle to the story involving Pinochet, and we will share that with those who come to the film."

Tickets are available now from members of Amnesty or from the film festival office. Please e-mail us at aibda@logic.bm (Amnesty) or info@biff.bm (BIFF) to order tickets.

The 11th Bermuda International Film Festival will be held March 28-April 5, 2008. Tickets go on sale Wednesday March 19 at 10 a.m. at www.biff.bm, and at the BIFF box office, Washington Lane, Hamilton.