- 6 hours ago
The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg chats with Evgeny Afineevsky and Juan Carlos Cruz at the 2020 SCAD Savannah Film Festival.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:04Hi I'm Scott Feinberg from The Hollywood Reporter and I am coming to you from the
00:07Vatican and I am so happy to be joined by my good friend and the Oscar
00:12nominated documentary filmmaker Evgeny Afoniewski. Evgeny nice to see you of
00:17course and congratulations yesterday just a few miles from here at the Rome
00:22Film Festival Center we had the world premiere of your terrific new film
00:27Francesco which involves the Pope but I know that you feel it's he's not
00:32necessarily the subject it's the people whose lives he touched that are and so
00:37we'll talk about all of that I'm so glad to have the chance to do that I guess to
00:41begin with though the question that might occur to people watching this is how does
00:45a Russian-born Jewish man end up close enough with the Pope that yesterday I
00:51witnessed him walk in with a birthday cake to sing and sing happy birthday to you
00:58in you know in the Vatican it's just an amazing thing how did this start you
01:03following and you support him in all my journeys and you're familiar with all my
01:07movies I guess Syria and Vinch on Fire all brought me to a certain point where I
01:12was searching for my next project I was searching for hope for something that I
01:18can bring to the people after Syria I was really lost and I was looking for
01:23something but I was also looking to bring some change and I guess hope love
01:28humanity that's what it was something that accompanies me on this journey and
01:33something that brought me to Pope Francis and something that I found in all his
01:37actions and something that unites the movie you are absolutely right he's not
01:42the main subject of the movie but he is because he unites all the issues that I'm
01:46portraying in the movie so I guess that's what brought me simplicity humanity hope
01:51love inspiration and specifically hope for these dark days where we are
01:56struggling to find direction into the future absolutely and we'll tell our
02:00listeners we are socially distanced it is a crazy time but it's important to be
02:06here because these are issues that then get discussed all around the world and
02:10that's happening you know just within 24 hours of the film premiering I guess
02:15just literally though so you know I'm sure there are hundreds thousands of
02:20filmmakers that would love to have the Pope in their movie how did how what what
02:25did you say what was the what was the sort of understanding that was reached and
02:29and how did you even get to communicate a pitch essentially that hey I'd like to
02:33make a movie to spread your message or to whatever whatever you said how did you
02:38guys first make contact no pitch was initially to Vatican okay and pitch was
02:42initially to Monsignor Dario Viganò who was the previous prefect of Vatican and I
02:47came to meet him and I explained myself what I wanted to do I explained the
02:52ability of my movies to be a call for action for the people to bring people
02:57together to unite them to stand against certain issues or to be a voice of the
03:03people that need to be heard like voice for the Syrian refugees so when I came I was
03:08offered to start the project on my own but in the same time I never was offered
03:14to be with the Pope they said you will go we will see and then at certain points
03:19we will discuss that's how it started but I learned also that in my journey with
03:24my characters I'm learning about them I went to Argentina at the beginning of my
03:29project and I met his family almost every of his friends and through them I kind of
03:34reached him but it's also only half of the story because I realized that he is
03:39not a man of the camera he is not a fun to be in front of the camera he rather
03:44be
03:44on the corners of the world doing something for the people making their
03:49lives easy helping them so I guess understanding these premises I realized
03:54that I need to go and get these testimonies of the people whose hearts and
03:59minds he touched whose lives he saved or changed and then through this
04:04actions through these kind of comprehensive stories allow him to
04:08elaborate on this and that's how basically he glued all the important
04:13issues of today's world and you know what it took three years how we slowly
04:17slowly established this relationship and I got close to him yeah it's amazing and I
04:22guess just give people a sense of how you know there was a lot of travel
04:26involved here because for the Pope under normal times not pandemic times he's all
04:30over the place and you were with him in a lot of those places where did you go
04:34with him no I actually was following him after in majority of the cases I was
04:39following him after because for me was not the initial for me was the reaction and
04:45the action I wanted to testify and to be close to the people whose lives he
04:51changed so I was following immediately or with a certain time period like for
04:57example Rohingya I went to follow them after eight months and that's why they
05:03say he changed our lives because that's the period of what we seen in the movie of change that he
05:09brought for example with sexual abuse I met Juan Carlos and then I was
05:14following all the situation I've been in Chile I've been here I've been witnessing
05:19last year how the summit happened I've been around the people I was talking to
05:23the victims of sexual abuse I was spending a lot of time learning from him
05:27what is important messages that he wants to bring on behalf of so many
05:31victims of the sexual abuse and for me learning process being close to him to
05:36Holy Father listening his stories then learning from the people kind of
05:41elaborating this and merging this into the images that I collected I made by
05:46myself I got to the access to the library of the Vatican so technically it's all
05:52together came as one fascinating image yeah talk about what so so having done a
05:59lot of this travel already you then I guess on several different occasions sat
06:04down with the Pope for for interviews about what you had seen and learned you
06:10know he doesn't give many interviews he's not doesn't love doing press from what I
06:15understand and so it's a really a special thing to get that kind of access what
06:21did he say to you that that had the most kind of profound impact on you when he
06:26was saying it that what did you find that the most interesting about what he
06:30said in the film that people will have just seen I think the fact that he knows
06:35how to recognize mistakes I think the fact that he not only able to listen but
06:42also learn at his 84 years old I think the fact that he knows how to see that he's
06:50wrong and humbly say I'm sorry let me fix this that's what striking me because not
06:56many leaders in these days able to do that fascinating stories Juan Carlos Cruz who
07:01is a dear friend an amazing amazing human being who fighting for the victims of
07:06sexual abuse through whom we bringing millions and millions of their lives into
07:11these big screen voices so I think that's what was striking for me to see
07:16how first of all he apologized not on behalf of church on behalf of himself and
07:21you know what and he also talking interesting thing every saint have a past
07:25every sinner have a future so for me we as the sinners who creating all the
07:30mistakes on a daily basis all the disasters climate change all day
07:35conflicts all the genocides we need to learn from them recognize our mistakes
07:40and humbly say I'm sorry and I guess that's the generosity of Pope Francis to
07:45teach us these lessons and as you say I mean the contrast between that sort of
07:49leadership with humility and empathy and willingness to admit a mistake you know
07:54is in short supply in some places these days so I think it makes maybe partly why
07:59there's such widespread affection for this hope to agree maybe not often the
08:04case talk more about the fact that I guess you know we people saw the movie for
08:11the first time yesterday they came I saw them coming up to you afterwards a lot of
08:16people are very moved by it and by the stories of the not just the Pope but the
08:21people like Juan Carlos Cruz who you feature in it and you know and then there's
08:26also media coverage which chooses to focus on one piece or another but this is a
08:31two-hour movie so well you know somebody may be interested in a quote you know he
08:36said a very interesting quote about those who build walls end up trapped by walls
08:41some stuff about civil unions what what would you what's your reaction to the
08:47reaction you know what I guess every person finding something that bothers him or
08:53close to his heart some people finding something that close to their heart
08:57something that can change their lives some people finding something that bothering
09:01them and they trying to express their concern so I guess each and every person
09:05finding something and that's important because you know what my idea for the
09:10movies that each and every human being in this big world will find something
09:14associated with some subject and something in my movie will change his heart
09:19mind and make him to do some good things at least I hoping for the good things
09:26because that's what I learned from Pope Francis the most important it doesn't
09:30matter what what sexuality you have or what a nationality you have what
09:35religion you have the most important be a human being be a good because another
09:40aspect that I'm going back to all your previous question Pope Francis teaches us
09:44stop putting labels over the people stop putting frames over the people we are
09:49all human beings we are all children of God and you know what I think that's a
09:53big big beautiful lesson that we all need to learn that we all brothers and
09:58sisters well and an amazing thing that people will see or have seen in this film
10:03is that you filmed right through I think as recently as March and so we see the
10:09beginning of the pandemic we see footage of the you see April even April okay so
10:14and we see the Pope in essentially an empty St Peter's Square we see you know
10:21the world stopping in a way and him talking about why this is an important
10:26time to reassess I think that the pandemic though also is relevant in another way
10:31which is that probably for the next couple of years none of us are going to be
10:36doing very much traveling and certainly somebody of the Pope's age and so while he
10:42may be grounded in a sense for the next couple of years his message will not be
10:47because of this movie right talk about why that is important to both of you I
10:51think what Francis like you already said he's not a man in front of the camera he
10:56is a man being on the periphery as a Jesuit who really cares about the people
11:02somebody who during 24 hours in the middle of night in the middle of day no matter
11:07what he will give you a hand to be a friend help you so for him what is
11:12important to take his people his journalists and go to the periphery go to
11:17the corners of the world and help people bring attention to the issues issues of
11:23Rohingya refuges genocides or different war conflicts different situations
11:28related to the climate change or situations of the migrants or refugees I
11:32think for him he's a man of action and I think right now when he's grounded like
11:36you said this ability to continue his message is given to the movie because
11:41movie can continue show these things bring attention and inspire people because
11:46again it's activism it's advocacy and it's action it's a call for action that's
11:52why through the movie he's looking off camera all the time in discussion and then
11:56by the end of the movie when he's discussing this directly he is trying to
12:00inspire us he's saying come help me because you know what we do need all to
12:06be united unity that we saw in my Maidan movie that helped them to achieve it in
12:1293 days it was a fascinating poster in Maidan movie that said each of us is a
12:18drop of water but together we are the ocean well and I think you you anticipate
12:23where I want to go with the last question which is just it is very striking at the
12:27end of the movie where you have the Pope looking directly into the camera and were
12:33you surprised by what he said at that moment I think it's what is on his heart
12:40it's what on his soul and for me what I love he's direct communicator he is also
12:47talking out of his heart and out of his humility and he's also humble person he's
12:53he you know what was striking from the beginning when I met him he is simple
12:58like you you saw it yesterday you saw it when we were celebrating my birthday
13:01that's what's interesting he is like you like me he teaches us to be simple human
13:07beings who can open our hearts and to the all humanity and that's what Pope Francis
13:12well congratulations it's thank you movie the whole world is talking about now
13:17that it's been seen it's headed from Rome Film Festival to Savannah Film Festival
13:23where some of you will be seeing this and then on to the world and so a lot of
13:28people are going to be looking forward to this so great to speak with you thank
13:31you and congratulations of Jenny Aponiewski thank you I am now really
13:36happy to be joined by my new friend Juan Carlos Cruz and communications executive and
13:41activist and a sexual abuse survivor of the church who has now really changed the
13:47world in a big way by getting to know Pope Francis and sort of have forgiveness
13:56and understanding in a way that not all of us would be able to it's really
13:59something to admire and thank you for speaking with me I guess I want to begin
14:04by asking you how did you first come to know of Jenny Aponiewski the director of
14:08this film who and and what convinced you to cooperate with it huh yeah well I had
14:17just come back from the Vatican in after you know those unfortunate events when
14:24Pope Francis has said that he went to Chile and he had said that that we lied
14:29and that what I said was calumny and and then the investigation happened and he
14:36invited me to stay here with him at the Vatican for a week or ten days and we
14:41got to know each other and he understood everything and believe me and ever since
14:48you know it's been a great relationship but then I went back to Philadelphia where
14:53I live and Evgeny contacted me I don't know through who it was in a few years ago and
15:02you know he came to my house and we started talking and he did the first interviews and
15:08through many months we kept doing interviews as things were progressing yeah well you are
15:16someone who knows the Pope very well now by this point having you know really developed
15:22that relationship over the last few years for you to know him that way and then to see the
15:27film talk about how you feel the film captures who he is well actually you say it the the the
15:34film captures who he is he's a man that overall cares about humanity overall brings that message of
15:47Saint Francis if you will of of love of peace of you know during this pandemic it's been incredible to
15:55see I have friends that aren't I remain Catholic and I have friends who are not Catholic
16:01others who are Jewish all kinds of friends and there's not one person who doesn't tell me because
16:08they know that I have a relationship with him that don't tell me you know I have been amazed by
16:16what
16:17Pope Francis has done especially during this pandemic to keep me with hope and so I have such respect for
16:29Pope Francis such respect for his message such respect for what he does and of course I am incredibly
16:38honored humbled I don't know the exact way but to know and to see what he has done for me
16:47and this is
16:50not to say that there's a lot to do still for sexual abuse victims all over the world but in
16:58my case the fact
17:00that I have received this honor of his friendship is something that really has literally saved me so I
17:09guess just finally as this film begins to be seen by people all around the world what is it that
17:15you
17:15hope they will take away from it aside from getting to know who the Pope what he's like a little
17:20bit more
17:21is there something that you hope they will learn and walk away from this doing differently yeah you know this
17:28film
17:28comes out at a time where humanity no matter what religion what race what gender what status humanity is going
17:41through something terrible which is this pandemic because not only about it's about people getting sick
17:48people dying people suffering but people losing jobs people going into terrible poverty and what
17:58what Pope Francis has told the world is how we have to come out of this pandemic as a new
18:05world order as
18:07a new society right people who care about other people people who are not okay with inequality in
18:19these times rich people have become richer poor people have become poor we need to bridge that gap
18:26that's the message of Pope Francis and this message of humanity and not caring about creed about
18:36religion about sexual orientation about you know gender about poor rich country geographies ethnicities
18:46that is the message that is the message we would be foolish if we come out of this pandemic the
18:54same
18:55selfish humanity we were before and Pope Francis has done a lot for us to guide us into being better
19:05human beings and come out of this a different people well thank you so much very honored to know you
19:12and I think
19:13I think people will be very moved by your story in this one thank you so much thanks
19:18you
19:19you
19:19you
19:20you
19:20you
19:20you
Comments