Martin Scorsese, it’s fair to say, is team Pope.
The Vatican on Monday announced it would be hosting a private screening of the Scorsese-produced documentary Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis, in Rome on April 21, to mark the one-year anniversary of Francis’ death.
Aldeas is the community cinema project run by Pope Francis’ global educational movement Scholas Occurrentes which holds workshops around the world to help local communities create scripted short films celebrating “their unique identities, histories, and values.” The documentary follows the cinema initiative across Italy, Indonesia, and The Gambia, and includes a visit by Scorsese to his grandfather’s village in Sicily, where he works with local young people to make a film of their own. It includes Pope Francis’s last in-depth on-camera interview shortly before his death and several behind-the-scenes conversations between the Pope and the Oscar-winning director.
“This film is a tribute to the Holy Father,” said Scorsese in a statement. “It honors his memory by embodying the spirit of his ministry and his dream of creating an ever more human culture. At this moment in history, I believe that is not only a dream, but a necessity.”
The Vatican will hold a private screening of the film on Tuesday, April 21, a year after Pope Francis’ death, just steps from where he lived and died.
On Monday, the Vatican unveiled several first-look images from the film (see below).
The new film lands amid a weeks-long dispute between the current pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, and U.S. President Donald Trump over the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. After Leo called Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die” to be “truly unacceptable,” POTUS lashed out, posting on Truth Social that the first U.S.-born Pope was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump also posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure, which he later removed amid a backlash from American Christians.
On the new episode of Last Week Tonight on Sunday, host John Oliver mocked Trump for taking on the leader of the Catholic Church, saying the President was “on a epic run of picking losing fights.”
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, also weighed in, suggesting the Pope should be “careful when he talks about matters of theology.
Over the weekend, the Pope, currently on a tour of Africa, said it was “not in my interest at all” to debate Trump about the Iran war, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace.
Clare Tavernor and Johnny Shipley directed Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis, which was produced by Aldeas Scholas Films in association with Sikelia Productions and Massive Owl Productions. LBI Entertainment and Double Agent are handling sales of the film, with all proceeds to be reinvested in the Aldeas initiative.
Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis.
Aldeas Scholas Films
Aldeas The Final Dream of Pope Francis.
Aldeas Scholas Films
