The film's director, John Deery, had flirted with the higher-profile Cannes, which strung him along before finally giving him the cold shoulder. Taormina was waiting on the rebound. At its world premiere in the ancient open-air 5,000-seat Greek theater, the film found a receptive audience for its impassioned plea for an end to the Catholic Church's vow of celibacy as well as for its less developed exposé of the church's callous treatment of HIV-infected members of the lower clergy. "Conspiracy of Silence" features a strong British ensemble cast, including Jason Barry, Hugh Bonneville, Patrick Casey, Brenda Fricker, Catherine Walker and Jonathan Forbes and leading Irish TV chat show host Gay Byrne as himself next page >