A closer look at David Wall   David Wall with his daughter Brennan, who plays Noëlle in Noëlle   Age: 45 A few films that have inspired his own filmmaking: My Life as a Dog, Sullivan’s Travels, It’s a Wonderful Life, Strictly Ballroom, Notting Hill,Annie Hall, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Sense and Sensibility. Favorite prayer: “The one I probably use the most is ‘Have mercy on me, a sinner.’” And there’s another one I think about a lot (from the 14th-century work “The Cloud of Unknowing.”) It’s more of a philosophy than a prayer, but it’s by a monk hundreds of years ago, and it goes, “Be ever more, against the cloud of unknowing which is between thee and thy God, the sharp dart of longing and love.” And [I’ve always related to] that spiritually — this sort of longing to know, but [never quite getting] it. And that’s why I write stories and make movies; it literally helps me to see where I’m trying to go.” Some favorite books: Peace Like a River, Death of the Family, “Paradise Lost,” Quo Vadis, the short stories of Flannery O’Connor and Jack London.

CD: The film doesn’t shy away from presenting Catholic priests with all their human flaws — struggling with addiction, questioning their vocation, etc. Why was it important for you to show that perspective?

WALL: I personally believe that priests are ordinary guys who’ve chosen or, maybe been chosen, to walk an extraordinary path. So I think if I had portrayed them as perfect, that’s not only going to be unbelievable, in my opinion it’s (also) unhealthy — both for us the audience and for them. I think if I show them in their struggles, in their doubts, in their faith, where they succeed, where they fail — that puts a really beautiful light on the incredible weight they must carry. And I think it makes their calling all the more impressive.

	Father Keene (David Wall) sits down for a talk in Noëlle. (© Beecher Cotton)

CD: Father Keene, the central figure of the film, is someone who can elicit criticism from audiences: He can be brusque, judgmental, and he says he doesn’t like "the people side" of being a priest. But we also see that he can be protective, principled, and caring. As you were writing his role and then, later, acting it, how did you try to ensure that readers would warm to Father Keene despite his less admirable qualities?

WALL: That was maybe one of the trickiest things to deal with. I think one of the keys is, you’ve got to show the cracks in his armor early on. We also have to see him soften. I think you also have to see that people see that he’s a bit of a knight; he’s ready and willing to fight for someone — in our story, it’s the librarian — who’s being treated unfairly or cruelly. I think lastly, he’s a terrible scooter rider. To me, watching a guy who takes himself too seriously fall down seven or eight times in a movie makes sure that we as an audience don’t take him too seriously.

CD: On a related note, in the film Father Simeon calls Father Keene a "hitman" for the archdiocese who shuts down stale and "unprofitable" parishes. Because Father Keene is the representative of the institutional Church in the film, the institutional Church could come across as a bad guy — a powerful, far-away force that is more concerned with money than with individual parishes or people. Was this a statement you wanted to make with the film?

WALL: No, and that’s a great point you bring up. I was trying to focus on the community, not the Church per se.