The Brooks Institute will present the grand opening of Revelar los Enlaces, a student-developed documentary of Chile. The documentary, which chronicles the country’s people, life and culture, will premiere as a multimedia presentation at 6:30 p.m. April 8 at The Granada in Santa Barbara.

Immediately after the premier, an exhibit and artists’ reception displaying the students’ documentary prints will be held at Brooks Institute’s Gallery 27.

As the premier date approached, the Feb. 27 earthquake in Chile became a focal point for the documentary group. With relief efforts under way, the students at Brooks Institute teamed up with Direct Relief International, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization that provides financial and medical support to those in need. All proceeds resulting in the sale of the book and DVD will be donated to help the people of Chile. The students also will be collecting donations and conducting print auctions at the three gallery opening events.

“Chile now has a home in my heart,” visual journalism student and documentary co-producer Jeff Johns said. “I realized we have an unbelievable opportunity to use these products we created to gain attention, awareness and relief for the victims of this horrible earthquake. By turning our opening events into fundraising opportunities, we have high hopes of raising funds to immediately impact those in desperate need.”

Each year, the visual journalism program of Brooks Institute offers an international documentary trip for interested visual journalism, professional photography and film students. The class, which is staged in a different international location each year, is limited to the strongest applicants. In November and December 2009, the 16 selected students and instructor spent seven weeks in Chile. Upon their return, the students created projects to showcase their experiences from this documented trip, including a multimedia presentation, a print exhibition, Web site, book and a DVD.

After the grand opening event on April 8 will be a special screening and multimedia presentation at Brooks Institute’s Ventura Campus from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. April 10. A screening and print show also will be held at the Marriot Ventura Beach from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. April 15.

— Marjorie Wass is a publicist.