Vatican: A film about the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio

A biography of Pope Francis has been screened in Italian movie theaters since December 3, 2015. Entitled Chiamatemi Francesco (“Call Me Francis”), this 94-minute, full-length feature film presents the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, from his youth in Buenos Aires to his elevation to the Chair of Saint Peter on March 13, 2013. According to the Vatican Radio website, on November 23, the project was the brainchild of producer Pietro Valsecchi, founder of the production firm TaoDue, which obtained financing from Mediaset, the audiovisual group founded by Silvio Berlusconi.

In all, fifteen weeks of filming in Argentina, Germany and Italy, three thousand extras, and much historical and religious research were necessary for the director Daniele Luchetti. While attending the pre-premiere showing that took place at the Vatican on December 7, he confided to the news agency I.MEDIA that “it is a film for those who wonder where Pope Francis comes from and why he is like that today.” The Italian filmmaker noted that he had “wanted to understand why this man came out of nowhere, with his ability to communicate, his style, his depth.”

After it debuts in 700 movie theaters in Italy, Chiamatemi Francesco is to be distributed in around forty countries. A long version consisting of four episodes for foreign television is slated for release in 2016.

(Sources: apic/radiovaticana – DICI no. 327 dated December 18, 2015)

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