Production wraps today (19 Dec) on Sliding Dice, a caper movie with a serious subject set in Romania and Ireland.

The film is directed by Canadian-born John Ketchum and John Riley of the UK. It describes a real-life immigration scam in which 41 Romanians obtained tourist visas for Ireland purporting to be members of a gypsy orchestra appearing at the Sligo music festival.

The English-language script was written by co-directors Ketchum and Riley with Barry Mulligan, the Irish official who was originally duped into granting the permits. Now the Irish consul in Romania, Mulligan also stars in the film, ironically, as one of the organisers of the hoax. Co-stars include Adrian Ciglenean, Irina Dinescu, Dragos Bucur and Alexandru Bucoi.

The picture is made on a budget below $1m and fully financed by Mell Wade Film, a new UK company headed by impresario Rod Weinberg and property developer-turned-media investor Andrew Stear. The producer is Dave Duce, a former Nu Image staffer with credits including Prozac Nation, Outside Ozona and Guinevere.

Filming began in Romania on 10 Nov and concluded with two days in Ireland.