‘Pope Francis’ director had a lofty mission
CANNES, France – The pope came to the Croisette.
Not in person, but thanks to Wim Wenders’ new documentary, Pope Francis — A Man of His Word, the Vatican had a big presence at the Cannes Film Festival.
Just before the movie’s premiere at the festival, USA TODAY sat down with Wenders, the legendary German director who won the Palme d’Or in 1984 for Paris, Texas, starring Harry Dean Stanton.
Wenders, who was raised Catholic, says he identifies today as an ecumenical Christian. When the Vatican approached him with the idea of making a film about the populist pope, leaders were not bothered by his beliefs. “They said: ‘That is of no concern to us. We like the way you make movies, and we didn’t ask you because we thought you were Catholic.’ ”
They were more interested in his ideas. Wenders would have to finance the film and find distribution, the Vatican said, but in return it would open its archives and make time available with the pontiff.
Wenders, a three-time Oscar nominee ( The Salt of the Earth, Pina, Buena Vista Social Club), was in — with one stipulation. “I told them, ‘Don’t expect me to make a film for Catholics.’ And they said: ‘Yes, exactly. The pope speaks to all sorts of people in the world. And his message is of peace between religions. You don’t have to make a Catholic film for us.’ ”
And so, five years after Francis ascended to the papacy, what A Man of His Word does is convey the pontiff ’s message directly. In the documentary, the globally popular pope speaks directly to the camera in his native Spanish, shar- ing his views on issues like tolerance among religions, the refugee crisis, climate change and embracing the LGBTQ community.
The director spent four afternoons with the pope, and it was only when the Catholic Church’s child sex abuse crisis was broached that Wenders saw him truly angry.
“Each time, this was the most agitated and the most furious he got, and you realized it was something that tormented him so much,” Wenders says. “He really got very adamant: ‘ Tolerencia cero’ — zero tolerance — was really from the heart. It was the angriest thing he said in the entire interview.”
Just last month, the pope apologized for defending accused Chilean priests during a trip to the country in January, saying he had been misinformed. In the film, Francis says he supports legal action against priests involved in pedophilia.
Only one request from Wenders made the Vatican nervous.
“I said I wanted to shoot at least once with him outside in nature,” he says. “The first answer was no, and I think it was strictly for security. ... Finally, I realized in order to do so, I had to find a place inside the walls of the Vatican that was a garden, and we found one.”