A piece of Bermuda's history, which centres around a theatre, made history in a theatre on Saturday.

Errol Williams documentary, `When Voices Rise...', on the 1959 Theatre Boycott is a must-see film for anyone with an interest in Bermuda - in the country it was, in the country it is now and in the country it may yet become.

It is the first, full-length documentary on the Island ever shown at the Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF) and it roared through its premiere screening at Southside Cinema on Saturday night.

The story of the Progressive Group and others who led the battle for desegregation in Bermuda was a tale begging to be told and the fact that group members kept their identities a secret for 30 years adds to its intrigue.

Mr. Williams spent two years making the film, collecting hundreds of hours of interviews with the surviving members of The Progressive Group and other boycott leaders.

Their tales are interwoven in a compelling series of six-minute segments with an overlying narrative from journalist Ira Philip - who played a large part in making history in this case as well as reporting on it.

The film opens with 1950s tourism clips pitching Bermuda as a paradise. But the tranquil beach scenes belied a segregated society in which blacks and whites lived in two completely separate worlds.

Black Bermudians were really third class citizens in their own country - falling behind both whites and tourists.

There were 18 members of the Progressive Group - Dr. Stan Ratteray, Rosalind and Edouard Williams, Clifford Wade, Marva Phillips, Coleridge Williams, Rudy and Vera Commissiong, Clifford and Florenz Maxwell, Eugene Woods, Esme and Lancelot Swan, Dr. Erskine Simmons, William Francis, William Walwyn and Gerald and Isola Harvey.

They banded together, met in secret and came up with a plan intended firstly to smash the segregation in the Island's movie houses.

Exceeding their own goals, in the end their quiet revolution brought down the entire system of segregation and laid the building blocks for universal suffrage which finally came in 1968.

Among the highlights of the film is a glimpse of the Maxwells' love story which is incorporated into the tale of struggle and triumph.

Mr. Maxwell was part of the group and wanted to bring in his fianc?e, Florenz, but had to convince the other members it was a good idea.

In the meantime, he was ducking out to meetings and could not tell his intended where he was off to.

She thought he was stepping out on her and had decided to give him the boot when she was shocked to discover she was actually being vetted and drafted into their society.

Also spellbinding is inclusion of little-known but highly charismatic Kingsley Tweed - who was not a member of the Progressive Group but took a lead role outside the theatre gathering popular support for the boycott as it progressed.

He and a few others put faces and voices to the cause at considerable personal risk to themselves and their families - in 1950s Bermuda, your mortgage could be pulled and your income lost if you offended the powers that were.

Mr. Tweed left Bermuda in 1961 after his life was threatened and has never returned.

The film could be tightened up a little bit - and Mr. Williams has said this is his intention - but it is a true treat.

These engineers of a quiet revolution have now shared their stories with Mr. Williams and Bermuda and their warmth, humour, pride, intelligence and integrity literally pop off the the screen.

History is brought to life in "When Voices Rise" and it is more engaging and entertaining than 99 percent of the films one will see in the course of this year.