original title:
Francesco da Buenos Aires
directed by:
screenplay:
cinematography:
producer:
production:
39Films, Barter, supported by Ministero della Cultura, Metropolis, with the support of Regione Lazio
distribution:
country:
Italy/Argentina
year:
2014
film run:
72'
format:
colour
release date:
28/04/2014
festivals & awards:
The decision of choosing Cardinal Bergoglio to be at the front of the Vatican took the world, and also the new Pope, by surprise. However, it was a very meditated selection: the vote difference for which the Argentine Cardinal won (100 to 15) is not a product of chance. Rodríguez Arias’ documentary seeks to reflect on the reasons why him, and not another, was the man chosen by his peers with the hope of him solving the profound crisis the Church has been going through for years, that which puts its power and massiveness at risk. But it is also a portrait of the man, priest and politician Jorge Bergoglio since childhood, that ends up explaining the Vatican’s fabric of power, whose ins and outs astonish the world day after day through the media. With revealing testimonial research, the film elaborates on Francisco’s roused speeches and homilies through archive footage that had almost no circulation in the media.