BETHEL – A movie filmed in and around Bethel last winter using dogs and extras from Maine will debut here next month.

Academy Award-winning director Kieth Merrill will hold a world premiere of “The 12 Dogs of Christmas” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4.

The movie tells the story of a young boy who uses more than 60 dogs to teach people about the meaning of Christmas during the Depression era.

The film uses 12 different dog breeds to parody the English folk song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

In the movie, Bethel is depicted as the tiny town of Dopunket. The boy makes an extended visit to his aunt, who lives in Dopunket, and befriends the town “Dog Lady.”

The “Dog Lady” runs a shelter for unwanted animals on the outskirts of town. The lad then uncovers a nefarious plot by the town dogcatcher, and must save the town’s doomed dogs before it is too late.

The premiere is to be a fund-raising event to benefit three Bethel-area groups.

Proceeds are to be split between SAD 44’s Crescent Park School fifth-grade field trip to Boston, the Bethel Youth Football Program, and Bethel Area Trails, a new committee of the Mahoosuc Land Trust.

A premiere party begins at 6 p.m. Both events are to be held at the Helen C. Berry Auditorium at Telstar High School.

Additional showings are to be held at 1 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, in the auditorium.

Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $10 for children. Tickets may be purchased by sending a check payable to Julie Park, with the number of tickets desired, to P.O. Box 95, Bethel, ME 04217.

Advance tickets may also be purchased in Bethel at Rite Aid Pharmacy, Designs, Brooks Brothers, Western Maine Supply and Norway Savings Bank. More information may be obtained by calling Park at 824-0202.