As the investigation of both incidents gains momentum, the church closes ranks but is unable to squelch a televised debate. Shot in the British social realist style, the film lays no claims to masterpiece status, but there is no doubting its passion. Deery describes the story as "inspired by real events," and he compiled interviews with 35 seminarians, priests and those who have left the clergy. "Conspiracy of Silence," refined over 23 drafts, won the prestigious Hartley-Merrill International Screenwriting Award in 2001 (from 2,000 candidates from 14 countries), which resulted in further development at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. But unlike last year's Golden Lion winner at the Venice Film Festival, "The Magdalene Sisters," also an anti-Catholic Church exposé, artistry is not the forte of this flawed but earnest film. next page >