MAUMEE (OH)
Toledo Blade
By RYAN E. SMITH
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Twist of Faith, the Academy Award-nominated documentary set in Toledo, will not get a regular public showing at the Maumee Indoor Theatre despite inquiries by its distributor about screening it there.
The film's director and others say the decision raises questions of censorship.
Not so, say officials at the theater and the city of Maumee, which owns the building. They said yesterday it was a financial decision and had nothing to do with the film, which is about the sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic church.
The documentary, chronicling the lawsuit of Toledo firefighter Tony Comes against the Toledo Catholic Diocese for years of alleged rape and molestation by a local priest, premiered to an invitation-only crowd at the Maumee theater on Monday. It aired on HBO last night.
About a week earlier, Great Eastern Theater Co., contract manager for the site, was approached about showing the movie for perhaps a week. It consulted with the city and ultimately agreed to pass, according to city and theater officials.
"We were extremely excited to be able to play the premiere, but a little bit leery of playing it for a whole week," said Jim Walter, president of Great Eastern. He said other movies were already booked, and showing Twist of Faith would have diminished revenue.