Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese‘s cultural film project Aldeas will make its world premiere on April 21 at Vatican City — the same day the world marks the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death. The film contains the late Pontiff’s final, never-before-seen on-screen testimony, recorded just months before his passing.
Aldeas will be presented at an intimate screening organized by Scholas Occurrentes, the global educational movement founded by Pope Francis. Shot across Italy, Indonesia, the Gambia, and Vatican City, the film centers on the premise of communities coming together to create and share their own stories through cinema.
The Vatican Film Library will host the screening on the afternoon of April 21, as part of a full-day tribute organized by Scholas Occurrentes.
The film features a deeply personal segment in which Scorsese returns to his grandfather’s village in Sicily, where he helps local young people produce a film of their own — a moment that captures the very soul of the project.
The historic on-camera interview was recorded in December 2024 at Vatican City — just months before the Pontiff’s death. It is widely regarded as Pope Francis’ final and most in-depth interview ever filmed for cinema.
Pope Francis personally entrusted Scorsese with overseeing Aldeas — a decision that reflected both men’s shared vision for art, spirituality, and humanity. Before his death, the Pontiff described the project as “an extraordinarily poetic and deeply transformative project, because it reaches the very root of human life: our sociability, our conflicts, and the very essence of life’s journey.”
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On the day of Pope Francis’ death, Scorsese expressed his grief, saying: “The loss for me runs deep — I was lucky enough to know him, and I will miss his presence and his warmth. The loss for the world is immense. But he left a light behind, and it can never be extinguished.”
A year later, at the time of the film’s announcement, Scorsese said: “Now, more than ever, we need to talk to each other, listen to one another cross-culturally. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by sharing the stories of who we are. It was important to Pope Francis for people across the globe to exchange ideas with respect while also preserving their cultural identity, and cinema is the best medium to do that.” He added: “This film is a tribute to the Holy Father. 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 relationship between Scorsese and Pope Francis deepened over many years. In 2016, Scorsese visited the Vatican to discuss his film Silence — a drama about Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in 17th-century Japan — directly with the Pope. In 2023, he participated in the Vatican’s Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination conference, which brought together hundreds of artists from around the world. In 2024, he gifted the Pontiff a photo book tied to his Oscar-nominated film Killers of the Flower Moon.
Scorsese’s body of work has long engaged with faith and spirituality — from the controversial 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ to the 2016 drama Silence. His most recent project, Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints, dramatizes the lives of eight Catholic saints. Aldeas stands as a natural culmination of that lifelong spiritual journey.
The film is produced by Aldeas Scholas Films in association with Sikelia Productions and Massive Owl Productions. Producers include Scorsese alongside Teresa Leveratto, Ezequiel del Corral, and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Directors Clare Tavernor and Johnny Shipley led the creative team, while acclaimed cinematographers Ellen Kuras and Salvatore Totino shaped the film’s visual language.
The project also features collaborations with internationally recognized artists, including actor Babou Ceesay (Africa), actress Happy Salma (Asia), and Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore (Europe) — underscoring the film’s global, multi-cultural reach.
The project is independently financed by international sponsors and donors, with all proceeds reinvested into expanding the initiative globally. Sales are being handled by LBI Entertainment and Double Agent.
