Element Pictures Distribution announced today they they have acquired the rights to Alex Gibney's next documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.
The Academy Award winners new feature which was hailed by critics at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, explores the abuse of power in the Catholic Church through the story of four courageous deaf men, who in the first known case of public protest, set out to expose the priest who abused them. Through their case the film follows a cover-up that winds its way from the row houses of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through the bare ruined choirs of Ireland's churches, all the way to the highest office of the Vatican.
Speaking about Element aquiring the film Director Alex Gibney said 'my film is to get a theatrical release in Ireland so that Irish audiences have an opportunity to see the film on the big screen. Elements of this story are sadly all too familiar to an Irish audience, but in tracing the lines of responsibility and knowledge of the systematic abuse of deaf kids in Milwaukee over a forty year period by Father Lawrence Murphy, direct to the highest echelons of the Vatican, we have brought a new and disturbing dimension to this story. I look forward to coming to Ireland next year when the film is released and having the opportunity to present my film, and discuss the issues it raises.'
Element Pictures distribution are delighted with the recent securing of the rights to the film Andrew Lowe, director of Element Pictures commented that 'We are really pleased to have acquired the Irish distribution rights to Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God Alex Gibney’s powerful new documentary which is a searing indictment of the Vatican’s failure to adequately deal with the universal problem of clerical child abuse.'
The film will feature the voices of Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke, Jamey Sheridan and John Slattery and will be released in cinemas in Spring 2013.
