TORONTO - There was a certain irony in naming "Page Eight" as the closing selection for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, given that it's a made-for-TV movie that few will see on a big screen.

Even a cast led by Brit stars Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes and an acclaimed writer/director in David Hare couldn't secure the political project -- about the inner workings of the British security service -- promises of a theatrical release.

So Hare instead set out to make "Page Eight" for the small screen, since it was the only way he could get the movie made.

"It's very, very difficult to make films at the moment that are about human beings," says Hare, adding that anything that isn't a blockbuster spectacle seems to be a tough sell.

It also didn't help Hare's pitch that he had no intentions of writing a typical, studio-friendly action movie with guns ablazing in every scene.

"One of the challenges was to make a suspense film in which there are not implausible killings," he says.

"The death rate in modern movies is just absolutely unbelievable, if life were like the movies there'd be nobody left on this planet at all."

But Hare was able to get the film made by producing it on a substantially smaller budget and by convincing his actors to work for far less money than they normally would.

"If films about people are to be made at all they have to be made very, very cheaply -- this film cost $3 million and it was made in five weeks -- and they have to be made through the goodwill of everybody concerned. You don't get Ralph Fiennes to come and play what is essentially a 10-minute scene except for the fact that he can't get to do what he wants to do as an actor," Hare says.

Nighy, who calls the project "precious to me," says he relished the chance to work again with Hare knowing it'd be a meaty role with excellent dialogue to deliver.

Hare says he began writing the script realizing that nobody had made a movie about the MI5 and its inner struggles over the last decade, including alleged knowledge of torture, rendition and other war crimes committed by allies.

"Nobody had written about what's going on inside our security services, which crudely is that since 2001 -- and then since the invasion of Iraq -- they've been asked to do all sorts of things they're not entirely comfortable with doing," explains Hare.

"And it became clear to me that by talking with various people inside MI5 that there was a very rich subject for drama."

Nighy stars as a veteran MI5 officer who uncovers a secret file with startling allegations that implicate the British prime minister, played by Fiennes.

"I am looking to work less in a battle skirt, or with tentacles, or as a zombie," says Nighy, referencing his roles in the "Underworld" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies and "Shaun of the Dead."

"It was extremely satisfying not only to be involved in something which concerns itself with one of the great scandals of our time and a film which contains crucial information, but that is told in the most elegant, beautiful way."

But Hare cautions that audiences shouldn't take the movie too literally; it's no docu-drama.

"It's mostly speculative, I'm sure everyone inside MI5 lied to me, why wouldn't they?" Hare says with a laugh.

"And I'm sure they're terribly happy with the film, when I'm sure it completely misrepresents what's going on -- and that I've sort of been brilliantly misled."

Those who can't catch a screening of "Page Eight" at TIFF may be able to see it when it airs on PBS on Nov. 6.

As for his next project, Hare is working with Canada's National Film Board on an animated piece about a trip to the Middle East and his examination of the wall separating Palestine and Israel.

"The NFB approached me about animating my trip along the wall, which I'm absolutely thrilled to do," Hare says.

"But like all animated films, I think it will be many years before you see it."