Scorsese's Pope Francis Doc Premieres at Vatican
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- "Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis" is premiering at the Vatican today as part of events commemorating the first anniversary of Pope Francis's death in April 2025.
- Scholas Occurrentes is staging the screening; the organization aims to "encourage social integration and the culture of encounter through sports, arts and technology" and was founded by Francis in Argentina in 2001, later becoming a foundation in 2013.
- The film was co-directed by Scorsese with Johnny Shipley and Clare Tavernor, and contains the pope's last in-depth on-camera interview; it was originally titled "Aldeas – A New Story."
- Pope Francis described the Aldeas "community cinema movement" before his death as "go[ing] to the roots of what human life is, human sociability, human conflicts … the essence of a life's journey."
- Scorsese said cinema is "the best medium" for cross-cultural exchange and idea-sharing while preserving cultural identity, calling the exchange of ideas "important to Pope Francis."
- Scorsese and Francis met multiple times, and Scorsese's recent religious-themed projects include "Silence" (2016) and the 2024 TV series "The Saints."
Why it matters: The premiere, hosted by the Argentina-born foundation Francis launched in 2001 and formalized in 2013, gives the late pontiff control over his own cinematic legacy by featuring his last in-depth on-camera interview and his own framing of the Aldeas "community cinema movement" — putting his voice, rather than retrospectives from others, at the center of the anniversary.
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