| Chiamatemi Francesco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Daniele Luchetti |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Produced by | Pietro Valsecchi |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ivan Casalgrandi |
| Music by | Arturo Cardelús |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Medusa Film |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Countries | Italy Spain |
| Languages | Italian Spanish |
| Budget | 12-15 million € |
Chiamatemi Francesco (Call Me Francis) is a 2015 Italian biographical film about Pope Francis directed by Daniele Luchetti.
The film tells the story of the life of Pope Francis (formerly Jorge Mario Bergoglio), from his youth in Buenos Aires and his experiences under the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla to his appointment as pope in 2013. [1]
Upon seeing Pope Francis's first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter's Square, director Daniele Luchetti began contemplating a film about Pope Francis's life. [2] The film's script was written by Daniele Luchetti and Martín Salinas. Luchetti has said that he aimed to avoid hagiography in the film, though it presents a generally positive portrayal of the pope. [3] The pope did not provide guidance to the film's production team, despite their attempts to contact him. [1] Monsignor Guillermo Karcher, a close associate of the pope, later stated that the movie was "truthful". [1]
Luchetti joined with producer Pietro Valsecchi and Taodue to produce the movie, which was financed by Mediaset. [4] [5] The film was shot in Italy, Germany, and Argentina over 15 weeks. [6] The film was shot in Spanish with an Argentine, Chilean, and Spanish cast, along with approximately 3,000 extras. [6] [7] The film cost 13 million euros, or approximately 14 million dollars, to produce. [1]
The film's soundtrack was composed by Arturo Cardelús. [8]
Writer Evangelina Himitian has claimed that the film is an illegal adaptation of her book Francis, the People's Pope (Francisco, el Papa de la gente). [9] In March 2014, producer Pietro Valsecchi acquired an option to adapt the biography for the film; he ultimately did not exercise this option. [9] According to Himitian, the film is nonetheless based on her research and her meetings with the film's production team. [9] Valsecchi has denied Himitian's allegations, saying that the film is based on multiple sources and not simply her biography, and that the 40,000 euro option would have been a trivial component of the film's budget had the film in fact been based on her book. [9] At the time Himitian made her initial allegations, she had not yet seen the film. [9]
The film premiered on 1 December 2015 in the Paul VI Audience Hall, which lies across the border of Vatican City and Rome. [1] The Office of Papal Charities determined the guest list, and all of the 7,000 tickets were distributed to the poor—including refugees and homeless people—and volunteers who serve them. [1] [10] Bagged dinners were given to attendees after the showing. [1] [10]
On 3 December, the film opened in 700 theaters across Italy. [1] Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Maria Elena Boschi, Gianni Letta, and other Italian personalities attended the film's official presentation at Rome's The Space theater. [11]
Medusa Film managed the film's distribution in Italy; Taodue is managing its distribution elsewhere. [12] [13] The film is expected to be distributed in 40 countries. [14]
During its opening weekend (3–6 December 2015), the film ranked second at the Italian box office (following In the Heart of the Sea ) with 1.3 million euros in box office receipts. The same weekend, more spectators attended Chiamatemi Francesco (239,029) than In the Heart of the Sea, but In the Heart of the Sea benefited from premium prices for 3D tickets. [15] As of 27 December 2015, the film had grossed over 3.5 million euros in Italy. [16]
The film received generally positive reviews. [17] Chiamatemi Francesco was named Italian Film of the Year at the Capri Hollywood Film Festival. [16]
The film was released in 2017 in the form of a four-part television miniseries, each lasting about 50 minutes. [16]
Pope Francis is head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus, the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian pope Gregory III.
Daniele Luchetti is an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor.
Elio Germano is an Italian actor. He is the recipient of many accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and a Silver Bear for Best Actor.
A conclave was convened on 12 March 2013 to elect a pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who had resigned on 28 February. 115 participating cardinal-electors gathered. On the fifth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He took the pontifical name Francis.
The Mater Ecclesiae Monastery is a monastery in Vatican City. It was founded around 1990 by Pope John Paul II as a monastery for cloistered nuns who pray specifically for the health of the pope. Various cloistered orders are invited to take up residence for a time. From his resignation in 2013 until his death in 2022, it served instead as the residence of Pope Benedict XVI. In 2023, Pope Francis returned it to its monastic purpose with an invitation to Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of St. Scholastica in Victoria, Argentina.
On 18 March 2013, Pope Francis adopted in his papal coat of arms the coat of arms and the motto that he used since his episcopal consecration in 1991, differenced following his election as Supreme Pontiff.
Mario Aurelio Poli is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 2013 to 2023. He was the Bishop of Santa Rosa from 2008 to 2013 and before that an auxiliary bishop in Buenos Aires from 2002 to 2008. Pope Francis, his predecessor in Buenos Aires, made him a cardinal in 2014.
Guzmán Carriquiry Lecour is a Uruguayan lawyer, journalist and activist on behalf of Roman Catholic causes in Latin America. In his 50-year career in the Roman Curia, he was one of the few laypersons in the upper ranks. For his last eight years, he was the highest ranking official of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. After retiring from the Curia in 2019, he became Uruguay's ambassador to the Holy See in 2021.
Fabián Edgardo Marcelo Pedacchio Leániz known as Fabián Pedacchio is an Argentine priest of the Catholic Church who served from 2013 to 2019 as a personal secretary of Pope Francis. He works on the staff of the Congregation for Bishops where he worked from 2007 to 2013. Before that, in Argentina, he fulfilled assignments as a parish priest for fifteen years and served on church tribunals at the national level.
Francis: Pray for me is a 2015 Argentine film, starring Darío Grandinetti as Pope Francis. The film is based on the 2013 book, Pope Francis: Life and Revolution, which was written by Francis' close friend Elisabetta Piqué who is also a correspondent for the Argentine newspaper, La Nación in Italy and the Vatican since 1999. The film was released as Papa Francisco: The Pope Francis Story in the Philippines.
Taodue is an Italian film and television production company in MFE - MediaForEurope. It was founded by Pietro Valsecchi and Camilla Nesbitt in 1991.
Pietro Valsecchi is an Italian film and television producer. In 1991, he and Camilla Nesbitt founded the Italian production company Taodue. In 1995, he won the David di Donatello for Best Producer for his film Un eroe borghese. In 2016, he won the Nastro d'argento for best producer, with Quo Vado?, Chiamatemi Francesco and Don't Be Bad.
Arturo Cardelús is a Spanish-American composer of film and concert music. He is best known for his score for the animated feature Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, which was nominated for a Goya Award.
Andrea Tornielli is an Italian Catholic journalist and religious writer who serves as the editorial manager for the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication.
Víctor Manuel "Tucho" Fernández is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church and a theologian. He is currently the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church since 2013, has adopted a significantly more accommodating tone on LGBT topics than his predecessors. In July 2013, his televised "Who am I to judge?" statement was widely reported in the international press, becoming one of his most famous statements on LGBT people. In other public statements, Francis has emphasised the need to accept, welcome, and accompany LGBT people, including LGBT children, and has denounced laws criminalising homosexuality. While he has reiterated traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, he has supported same-sex civil unions as legal protections for same-sex couples. Under his pontificate, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has confirmed that transgender people can be baptised, and allowed the blessing of same-sex couples in the document Fiducia supplicans. Francis has privately met many LGBT people and activists. In 2013, Francis was named as Person of the Year by The Advocate, an American LGBT magazine.
Daniele Libanori is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who is an official of the Roman Curia as Pope Francis' supervisor of Consecrated Life. He was a Auxiliary Bishop of Rome from 2018 to 2024. He began his career with several years as a parish priest and a decade as rector of the seminary of the Archdiocese of Ferrara. He joined the Jesuits in 1991 and worked as a university chaplain and then as the rector of parishes in Rome until becoming a bishop in 2018.
Francesco is a 2020 American documentary film, directed and produced by Evgeny Afineevsky. It describes the life and teaching of Pope Francis.
Alicia Beatriz Oliveira was an Argentine jurist and politician known for her work in defense of human rights. She became friends with Father Jorge Bergoglio, later Pope Francis, who baptized her three children.
The Pope Francis bibliography contains a list of works by Pope Francis.
