Photo with Jannik Sinner, a few days after Peter’s election to the Throne. Then Al Pacino, Laura Pausini, until yesterday with Cate Blanchett, Spike Lee, Monica Bellucci. Photo opportunities featuring the increasingly pop Pope.
Leone, the first American Pope, who wanted to meet a Hollywood star. A real red carpet in the Vatican, international actors and directors with eyes wide open and noses up, admiring the beauty of the Sala Clementina, in the Apostolic Palace, for the audience that Leo gave them. “In the year of jubilee – explained the Vatican – Pope Leo expressed his desire to deepen the dialogue with the world of cinema and especially with actors and directors, exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values”.
Prevost received a New York Knicks NBA jersey with the words “Pope Leo XIV” as a gift, directly from Spike Lee. Photos showing him smiling with the American actor-director soon circulated on the Web and were added to an album the Pope was putting together with stars from around the world.
Cate Blanchett instead gave the Pope a bracelet that he wore as a sign of solidarity with refugees, while Viggo Mortensen, a three-time Oscar nominee, gave Leo some letters.
“Cinema is a young, dreamy and somewhat unsettling art, even though it is now a hundred years old,” Pope Francis began. “This is popular art in the noblest sense, born for everyone and speaking to everyone. It comforts me to think that cinema is not just moving pictures, it is also moving hope!” emphasized the Pope who then expressed his concern that cinemas were experiencing “an erosion that is distancing them from cities and their surroundings. And many say that the art of cinema and the cinematographic experience are in danger”. Hence the invitation to institutions “not to give up and work together to affirm the social and cultural value of this activity”.
Finally, recommendations to directors and actors from around the world. “May your cinema always be a meeting place, a home for those who seek meaning, a language of peace. May it never lose its ability to amaze, continuing to show us even one fragment of God’s mystery.”
An invitation accepted by the world of Italian cinema. “Spontaneous applause arose when the Holy Father underscored the importance of supporting and not abandoning an industry that is not just an entertainment industry, but an industry that has a deep connection with the life of this country,” said actress Chiara Francini.
“He underlined the importance of everyone’s work, even those who are invisible and the importance of everyone who continues to represent the family,” added Maria Grazia Cucinotta. The Pope is “a cinephile”, commented Spike Lee, who defined the words spoken by the Pope as “moving”. This impression was confirmed by Leone himself who, on the eve of the trial, shared in a video the films he liked: It’s a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra; The Sound of Music by Robert Wise; Ordinary People by Robert Redford and Life is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni.
“May your cinema always be a meeting place, a home for them
searching for meaning, peaceful language concluded Pope Francis speaking to the more than 150 actors and directors present – may it never lose its ability to amaze, continuing to show us even just a fragment of God’s mystery.”
