Financing was an uphill struggle, Deery says, because the Irish Film Board and numerous other regular sources turned him down. Deery and producer Davina Stanley obtained British financing after using their own money to develop the script, and they shot in England because the completion bond firm was worried about opposition in Ireland. Its boldness is precisely what attracted Taormina programmer Deborah Young and festival director Felice Laudadio, who formerly oversaw the Venice festival. In recent years many of the most potent cinematic criticisms of the Catholic Church have been launched in Europe's largest Catholic country (98% of the more than 50 million citizens). next page >