A video for Francis, a short film as a gift on the anniversary of the conclave that elected him Pope, on March 13th, 2013. It is titled “Sulla poltrona del Papa” (On the Pope’s seat of the Pope). This is the first film directed by the actress Cristiana Capotondi, who has thus debuted as a director. The website of Repubblica, anticipating its full version, has put on-line a short and very striking 7-minute video that concerns the issue of children in foster care. The video is inspired by the story of Carlos (but his real name is Didier Ferruccio), the little 6 year old boy, who last October, during the international meeting of families organized by the Pontifical Council for the Family, surprised everyone by going to sit on the seat of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as he stood speaking into the microphone. “I was very impressed by the Argentine Pope, says Christian Capotondi. When I saw that little boy run to him and hug the Pope. I imagined how many people would like to be in Francis’ arms. I think that there are many. This aroused in me the desire not only to impersonate a story, but also to tell a story. I kept thinking about the Pope. He’s a man with a strong tactile relationship. It suffices to think about when he washed the feet of the detainees in the prison for minors; or when he kissed a leper in St. Peter’s Square; or even when he says to couples that they can fight, and maybe even throw dishes at each other, but that in the evening to have to make peace. Now precisely that sweetness struck me in the image of his embracing little Carlos, who went to sit on the Pope’s chair.”
From that fragment, the idea has grown into a history about foster care and adoption. That is the starting point of the video: the story of a family that cannot have children (Christian Capotondi and Denis Fasolo), and so decides to contact the Ai. Bi., the association Amici dei bambini. “The adoption procedures in Italy are very long: for Carlos, who is Colombian, and his brother Johan Ferruccio, who also appears in the video, the adoptive parents had to wait two years.” The video, in homage to the Pope, will be presented to the Francis’ secretary, Msgr. Alfred Xuereb, by the director. In this short film, produced by Mario Gianani for the Wildside, there are some images that come from the archives of the Vatican Television Center and also the thanks addressed to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and to the Pontifical Council for the Family. At Santa Marta, the pontiff’s residence, it is said that the Pope has often thought about the child who was sitting on his chair. He has remained inscribed in the Francis’ mind, but he has not received any news about him. Christian Capotondi went to see Carlos’ family in Abruzzo and brought him back to St. Peter’s Square to shoot some scenes there. Bergoglio will find Carlos-Didier again in the video, now in the role of a small actor.
The Video
