The Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF) offering for May is international film festival favourite, 'A Small Act'.

'A Small Act', directed by Jennifer Arnold, which was a hit at both the Sundance and Hot Docs Film Festivals will screen at 6.30 p.m. today at the Tradewinds Auditorium of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

When Hilde Back sponsored a young, impoverished Kenyan student, she thought nothing of it.

A Holocaust survivor herself, her aim was simply to help someone else, just as she was helped after she fled to Sweden. She paid roughly $15 per term to keep him in school and she certainly never expected to hear from him.

However, many years later, she does. Chris Mburu has been thinking of his "angel" Hilde since he was a boy. The small contribution she made paid off – Mr. Mburu finished high school, attended Nairobi University and then went on to Harvard.

Now a respected UN human rights lawyer, Mr. Mburu never forgot that small act and decided to replicate Hilde's generosity by starting his own scholarship fund, the Hilde Back Educational Fund, to educate bright kids in his village so they can succeed and give back too.

With Mr. Mburu's own story providing the backdrop, this powerful film follows three intelligent and eager Kenyan students, Kimani, Ruth and Caroline, who are all studying for Kenyan National tests.

These tests determine whether students are allowed to move on to high school and, also, will determine who is considered for the fund's ten sponsorship places.

Having set up the fund, though, Mr. Mburu is dismayed to discover that Kenya's public schools are failing and only two new students qualify for sponsorship.

Simultaneously, Kenya falls into ethnic-based election violence. After working on conflicts in neighbouring countries, Mr. Mburu is more than ordinarily aware that ignorance fuels ethnic hatred and education is the key to avoiding violence and intolerance

In its compelling conclusion, Mr. Mburu and his fund colleagues must decide what to do. "This documentary will tug at your heartstrings," said Aideen Ratteray Pryse, festival director. Film is in English and Gikuyu, Swahili and Swedish with English subtitles. Tickets are $8 for BIFF Film Club members and $10 for non-members and are available at the door one hour before the screening time. For information or to make a reservation, e-mail info@biff.bm.