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MOSCOW -- It may well prove the biggest local release ever in Ukraine, but British helmer Robert Crombie's "Sappho," which opens on almost 90 prints March 5 around the country, has attracted local scandal already.

Set on the Greek island of Lesbos in the 1920s, its story is a love triangle between a young visiting American couple and a Russian emigre woman.

Subtitled "Love Without Limits," its gay themes have certainly caused a stir. "I made it as a pro-love movie, not pro-gay. It feels like the sky has fallen in," says Crombie.

Chief opposition has come from protestant church the Embassy of God, whose leader, Nigerian-born Sunday Adelaja, denounced the work -- which he admitted he hadn't seen -- as "the worst kind of appearance of Western freedom."

Crombie managed to get into Adelja's tightly controlled press conference and tried to explain his point of view, but was forcibly ejected. Most journos followed him out onto the street.

For now, he's concerned as to whether opposition will go into the streets to disrupt screenings. "After that, we'll be looking for international distribution. If we can make $1 million in Ukraine, that's double previous results for anything here to date, and we'll aim to break into the international market."