Cannes Market Dailies

“The belief that movies can impact individuals and the world at large is at the very core of Focus Features. We are humbled at the responsibility of planting this film into the global culture so that the thoughts and words of a spiritual leader as inspiring and compassionate as Pope Francis can take root.”

A Historic Moment!

Another historic moment has been organized by Festival Sacred for Beauty: the Cannes visit of Dario Vigano  the Prefect of the Secretariat of Communication at the Holy See.
This was the first time in festival history that The Vatican sent someone to meet the industry gathered on the croisette (70th edition)!

Dario Vigano came with a message from the Pope and Anne Facérias (Diaconie de la Beauté, producer of the Festival Sacred for Beauty) put together a series of panels May 25th: Movies that Matter at American Pavilion, la Spiritualité dans le Cinéma and a few power meetings with Cannes President Pierre Lescure, David Lisnard Mayor of Cannes, Jean-Pierre Leleux, sénateur des Hautes Alpes heading the audiovisual commission at the frencch Senate and Jury Oecuménique.

Pope Francis – A MAN OF HIS WORD is a significant nonfiction film, as it is not a biography about the Pope, rather a film with him.

On March 13th, 2013, the Cardinal of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, became the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. As Pope Francis, he has made communication a vital element of the Church and a key component of his remarkable work of reform.

In Pope Francis – A MAN OF HIS WORD, he responds to questions submitted from around the globe. Exclusive footage from the Vatican’s archive shows the Pope on journeys, sharing his ideas and ideals in different parts of the world.

Statement from The Vatican

Msgr. Dario Edoardo Viganò, Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication of the Holy See, said, “Whenever I think of Wenders’ poetics I see before me the angels that feature in Wings of Desire and Faraway, So Close! They are angels that, though perfectly pertinent to both the biblical and literary worlds, have very little in common with the devotional stereotype. Wenders is aware that it is how we view the world that makes it pure or impure: a burden of responsibility we are constantly aware of when watching his documentary works. That’s why the German master was invited to take part in the opening ceremony of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy called by Pope Francis. A meeting that led to the Vatican Television Centre suggesting a film could be made that might describe, for want of a better word, Pope Francis’ approach to the contemporary world, through his answers to a whole range of questions posed by men and women of all origins and extractions. An intense filmic experience, an eyewitness account captured by the film medium that, as was the case for Pope Leo XIII, wants to stand as a bridge and an embrace with men and women of all faiths and cultures and social or political leanings.”

Writer/Director Wim Wenders at the panel in Cannes may 25