(By Alessandra Magliaro).
The first biopic on Pope
Francis is about to be released in as many as 700 cinemas amid a
new 'Vatileaks' scandal.
The film Chiamatemi Francesco - Call Me Francis - was
directed by Daniele Luchetti whose previous work includes Il
Portaborse(1991) - The Underling - and La Nostra Vita (2010) -
Our Life.
The film tells the story of Jorge Bergoglio until March
13, 2013, the day he was elected pontiff.
A preview, which the pope is scheduled to attend, will be
held at the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall on December 1 prior
to its wide release two days later.
Produced by Pietro Valsecchi's TaoDue and distributed by
Medusa, it ''will not be a holy picture'', said Luchetti.
Argentine actor Rodrigo De la Serna has the role of the
young Bergoglio while Chile's Sergio Hernandez plays the future
pope in his later years.
Filmed in Spanish, the production cost 12 million euros and
was filmed over 15 weeks in Argentina (Buenos Aires and
Cafayate), Germany (Augsburg) and Italy (Rome and Turin) with
3,000 extras, in-depth historic and religious research. It is
expected to be distributed worldwide.
Luchetti said the movie is a tale about ''the pope of the
people'', ''not necessarily a religious film but on a person for
whom religion is a reason for life, hope, strength and who has
communicated this to others''.
The movie gives an insight into the path that took Jose
Bergoglio, son of a family of Italian immigrants living in
Buenos Aires, to lead the Catholic Church.
During his youth, Jorge was a boy like many others, a
Peronist, with a girlfriend, friends and chemistry professor,
Esther Ballestrino with whom he would remain close all his life.
Everything changed when his calling led him to join, when
he was just over 20, the rigorous religious order of the
Jesuits.
During Jorge Rafael Videla's dictatorship, Bergoglio was
named provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina,
although he was still very young.
This responsibility during very dark times dramatically put
the faith and courage of the future pope to test.
In spite of the risks, Jorge directly worked to defend
those persecuted by the regime but paid a very high price for
it, watching some of his most beloved companions die or
''disappear''.
This experience would have a profound effect on the future
pontiff.
When he became archbishop of Buenos Aires, he continued to
help residents of the poor suburbs, defending them against
abuses of power and promoting their individual and collective
growth.
The film ends with the unforgettable night in which, in a
packed St Peter's Square, Jorge Bergoglio, wearing white and an
iron cross, greeted the world under the name Francis and the
straightforward simplicity and deep humanity that have
represented his powerful strength from the beginning.
The idea to tell the life story of this pope came to
producer Pietro Valsecchi of TaoDue (which made years ago the
successful series on Pope John Paul II) a few months after his
election, when the historic impact of such a figure became
clear.
Mediaset CEO and Vice President Pier Silvio Berlusconi and
the company's management immediately supported the project of a
film that will be sold worldwide.
The film has an international cast but an Italian director
and is dedicated to the first pontiff from the American
continent, a figure that unites extremely different areas of the
world, languages, cultures, generations and social classes.
http://popefrancisnewsapp.com/
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