I think I will reconvene our Wednesday movies a little sooner than suggested in my last note. I personally want to see the recent documentary Francesco (https://www.francescofilm.com), as I noted above in a post on March 9. The movie is described by the producers as "... the headline-making Pope Francis documentary from Oscar® nominated director and producer, Evgeny Afineevksy. This groundbreaking film features unprecedented access to His Holiness Pope Francis, providing an intimate look at a global leader who approaches challenging and complex issues with tremendous humility, wisdom and generosity towards all." It is now available on Discovery+, so I signed up for a subscription in order to show it.
Francesco has mostly positive reviews. For example, from NPR-Los Angeles: "A Vatican-sanctioned, pretty worshipful documentary, and yet I still found it worth watching because of the breadth of the issues that the pope is concerned about." But the reviews are definitely not all positive, one of the sharpest reviews being from the NYT: "Judged strictly as a movie, "Francesco" comes across as shapeless and secondhand - a missed opportunity to present a closer look at the daily work of being pope and perhaps to demystify elements of the papacy." Still, I think it is worth watching, so I'll make this available next Wednesday, May 26, at 7pm (unless folks want to push our start time back due to more sunshine) on our usual zoom link, https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87671456490?pwd=R09WSENPMWFwMndZRnFVZjJxZ3J2UT09.
This might be considered as the first of a trio of documentaries on inspirational figures, to be followed by those of a couple of other Jesuits, Fr. Greg Boyle on June 6, and Fr. James Martin on June 16. But don't worry, I have not forgotten women and our women religious (who have featured in previous movies we have shown)! I'm still on the alert for when I can get access to "Rebel Hearts."
