Film Screening to Aid Amnesty International

“Dance of Hope” (1989), a film by Academy Award winner Deborah Shaffer, will be shown at the Port Theatre in Corona del Mar on Sunday morning to benefit Amnesty International.

The documentary, which won the Latin American Studies Assn.’s 1989 Award of Merit, centers around eight Chilean women who belong to the Assn. of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared and who challenged the government to account for the thousands of husbands, fathers and sons who vanished during the regime of President/dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The title “Dance of Hope” refers to a Chilean love dance, the Cueca, traditionally done by men and women. In the film, the eight women perform the dance in public by themselves to protest the disappearance of their loved ones. This same dance was popularized in a song called “They Dance Alone” by Sting, who, with Wendy Blackstone, performs the film’s music.

After the screening, Jim Timmerman, who heads the Amnesty International Chilean Co-Group, and Dr. Jose Quiroga of Long Beach, who treated torture victims in Chile during Pinochet’s regime, will discuss current conditions in Chile. The screening will begin at 11 a.m. The Port is at 2905 E. Coast Highway. Admission: $10; $7 for seniors and students with identification. Information: (714) 643-8221.