BRUNSWICK – Local players in the drama leading up to Lewiston’s Jan. 11, 2003, rallies will be on hand today for a screening of a documentary about them at Brunswick’s Eveningstar Cinema, where the film is making its Maine theatrical debut.

Former Mayor Kaileigh Tara, City Administrator Jim Bennett, Police Chief Bill Welch and members of the Many and One Coalition will discuss the events that led up to the visit from white supremacists and the diversity rally organized to protest them. They will be on hand for the 7 p.m. showing of the film.

“We’re basically there to answer any questions and inform about some of the positive things that went on in the background,” Bennett said Thursday. “Frankly, the film doesn’t do that all that well.”

Filmmaker Ziad Hamzeh, director of “The Letter,” will be on hand for Saturday’s 7 p.m. showing to discuss the film.

“We’ve had a good response for both shows, so far,” said John Favreau, owner of the Brunswick theater. He has sold about 20 advance tickets for Friday and Saturday showings. The theater holds about 100 people, and Favreau said he’s pleased with the response.

“I’m selling most of them over the phone,” he said. “It’s mostly people from Portland and Lewiston wanting to make sure they get a ticket.”

The film will remain in Brunswick into next week.

“I plan on showing it at least until Thursday, and we’ll keep it longer if there is interest in it,” Favreau said.

The 75-minute film tells the story of the 2001-02 Somali influx into Lewiston. It shows how the city reacted to the new immigrants and culminates in the Jan. 11 rallies.

The film includes footage of twin rallies held in Lewiston on Jan. 11, 2003. The sequence of the rallies – one for peace and unity, the other for hate – cuts between neo-Nazi talk of “race mixing” and pleas for peace by people including Gov. John Baldacci.

“The Letter” began making the rounds of film festivals in November 2003, when it opened at the American Film Institute’s International Film Festival in Los Angeles. The Many and One Coalition showed the movie last year to mark the anniversary of the Jan. 11 rallies. It opened in New York City in February to good reviews.