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| Conspiracy of Silence | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | John Deery |
| Written by | John Deery |
| Produced by | John Deery & Davina Stanley |
| Starring | Jonathan Forbes Jason Barry Hugh Quarshie Hugh Bonneville Sean McGinley Chris O'Dowd Brenda Fricker |
| Cinematography | Jason Lehel |
| Edited by | Jamie Trevill |
| Music by | Francis Haines Stephen W. Parsons |
Production companies | Flick Features Little Wing Films |
| Distributed by | TLA Releasing (USA - DVD) Element Pictures (UK and Ireland - DVD) Watch Entertainment (USA - theatrical) Joejack Entertainment (Non-USA - DVD) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $2,598[1] |
Conspiracy of Silence is a British drama film set inIreland and inspired by real events. The film challengescelibacy and its implication for theCatholic Church in the 21st century.
Written and directed byJohn Deery, the cast includes: Academy Award-winnerBrenda Fricker,Hugh Bonneville,Chris O'Dowd,John Lynch,Jonathan Forbes,Jason Barry,Sean McGinley,Fintan McKeown,Jim Norton andHugh Quarshie.
The movie won many international awards including the U.S.National Board of Review of Motion Pictures' Freedom of Expression Award in 2004, which it shared with Michael Moore'sFahrenheit 9/11 andMel Gibson'sThe Passion of the Christ.[2] Deery was also nominated for Best Film Director at theIrish Film Awards in 2003.[3] The screenplay was developed at theSundance Screenwriters' Lab in Utah and won theHartley-Merrill International Screenwriting Award presented to Deery at theCannes Film Festival in 2001.
The film was invited to be shown at manyfilm festivals in 2003 to be in Competition and/or Official Selection including: Taormina, Italy (first public screening, June 2003),Moscow International Film Festival, Opening Night film at the Galway Film Festival, Ireland, Montreal Film Festival, Hamburg Film Festival, Warsaw Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Award,Dinard Festival of British Cinema, France, and theAmerican Film Institute (AFI) Festival in Los Angeles.[4] It received an art house release in the United States.[5] The film is available onAmazon Prime in the UK.[6]
Father Sweeney (Patrick Casey), a gay Catholic priest living with HIV, commits suicide. His death leads local investigative journalist David Foley (Jason Barry) to write a story that publicly identifies Sweeney as having HIV.
At the local seminary, two students near ordination are expelled because one, Daniel (Jonathon Forbes) was seen leaving the room of the other, Niall (Paudge Behan). Niall is gay and Daniel is straight and they engaged in no sexual activity but were still expelled for the sake of appearances. Daniel returns home, where he is torn between his calling to the priesthood and his love for his ex-girlfriend Sinead (Catherine Walker).
Daniel meets with Foley, who writes a follow-up article exposing a covered-up AIDS protest that Sweeney had staged at the Vatican three years earlier and Daniel's dismissal. He also alleges that cardinals close to the Pope are engaged in sexual relationships and calls on the Church to re-examine its celibacy requirement for priests. The local bishop, Michael Quinn (Jim Norton), pressures the editor of the local paper not to run the second story. The editor acquiesces but after reading the story sends it to theIrish Times, which prints it.
The next day the bishop, his aide, Foley and Daniel appear together in a live television debate. Before the broadcast, agents of the Church threaten to harm Foley's family unless he retracts his story on the air. Bishop Quinn offers to reinstate Daniel if Daniel is willing to admit he has been wrong. On-air Foley capitulates but Daniel does not, asking the bishop if he himself practices celibacy. When the bishop refuses to answer, Father Sweeney's partner, former priest Matthew Francis (John Lynch) confronts Quinn with Sweeney's suicide note in which Sweeney discloses that Quinn and he had had an affair.
At film's end, Daniel is back at home with Sinead.
The film got a limited US theatrical release in December 2004,[5] following its festival screenings.
The film was re-launched at theBerlin International Film Festival in February 2014 by a new US boutique sales company, Angel Grace Productions, headed by Michael Fister.[7][8]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 35% of 26 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10.[9]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[10]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Hartley-Merrill | International Screenwriting Award | John Deery | Won |
| 2001 | Sundance Screenwriters' Lab | Fellowship | John Deery | Won |
| 2003 | Dinard British Film Festival | Golden Hitchcock | Conspiracy of Silence | Nominated |
| 2003 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Film Director | John Deery | Nominated |
| 2003 | Warsaw International Film Festival | Special Mention | Conspiracy of Silence | Won |
| 2004 | National Board of Review | Freedom of Expression Award | Conspiracy of Silence | Won |
