Director meets Pope following premiere of Silence.

Oscar-winning film director Martin Scorsese premiered his new movie Silence in front of more than 300 Jesuit priests at the Vatican on the night of 29 November.

Scorsese's movie, which has been in the pipeline for 27 years, is about two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries who travel to Japan in the 17th century in search of their missing mentor, who is rumoured to have renounced the faith under torture.

Following the screening of the 159-minute film, the Italian-American director stayed for an hour to answer questions from his Jesuit audience, which did not include Pope Francis.

However the next day Scorsese met the pontiff who said he had read the 1966 novel by Japanese writer Shusaku Endo on which the film Silence is based.

The film, which stars Irish actor Liam Neeson, is due to premiere in the US on 23 December.