A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman DVD

A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman is an exploration of exile, memory, longing and democracy as seen through the eyes of writer Ariel Dorfman (Death and the Maiden). Born in Argentina, growing up in New York and then Chile, Dorfman became the cultural advisor to Chile’s socialist president, Salvador Allende. When the Allende government fell in the military coup of September 11, 1973, Dorfman had to make the most crucial decision in his life. Later he was told that his life was spared because “someone had to live to tell the story”. Shot in Argentina, U.S.A. and Chile (coinciding with the death of Dorfman’s nemesis, General Pinochet), and incorporating a wealth of rare archival footage, this feature-length documentary is based, in part, on Dorfman’s memoir, Heading South, Looking North.