Los Angeles, April 27 (IANS) Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, who is active both in the US as well as Netherlands, is directing a lesbian nun drama based on the life of controversial Italian nun Benedetta Carlini.
"Blessed Virgin" will chronicle Carlini's life in the 17th century, with Virginie Efira essaying the protagonist, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
Production has now begun on the film which is based on the book "Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy" by Judith C. Brown.
Gerard Soeteman has adapted the work.
Producer Saïd Ben Saïd announced the news on Twitter.
Born in 1591, Carlini is a significant figure for historians of women's spirituality and lesbianism.
At 30, she was made abbess of a convent in Pescia where she claimed she was experiencing visions of being murdered. It was later found that she had engaged in sexual relations with a fellow nun, whom she was accused of molesting.