| 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 the head of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope born or raised outside Europe since the 8th century papacy of 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.
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 served as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina from December 2009 to April 2018. He was named Archbishop of La Plata on 2 June 2018. On 1 July 2023, Pope Francis named Fernández prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith as of mid-September. Pope Francis made Fernández a cardinal on 30 September 2023.
Prior to Jorge Bergoglio taking the papal name of Pope Francis, Bergoglio as a cardinal strongly opposed same-sex marriage and the same-sex marriage bill that Argentina senate debated in 2010 but he supported civil unions for gay couples. As Pope Francis, after his election in 2013, he has repeatedly spoken about the need for the Catholic Church to welcome and love all people regardless of sexual orientation. However, Pope Francis has also had gestures in the opposite direction, such as blessing a gay couple in July 2015 to later have Ciro Benedettini, the Vatican Spokesperson, asserting that in no way is the letter "meant to endorse behaviors and teachings unfit to the Gospel". Pope Francis also met with Kim Davis, to which later the Vatican clarified that this meeting "does not endorse Davis's views."
The Two Popes is a 2019 biographical drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles and written by Anthony McCarten, adapted from McCarten's play The Pope which premiered at Royal & Derngate Theatre in 2019. Predominantly set in Vatican City in the aftermath of the Vatican leaks scandal, the film follows Pope Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins, as he attempts to convince Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, played by Jonathan Pryce, to reconsider his decision to resign as an archbishop as he confides his own intentions to abdicate the papacy.
Daniele Libanori, S.J., is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a Auxiliary Bishop of Rome since 2018. 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.
