The documentary "Pope Francis: A Man of His Word" debuted at the Cannes Film Festival this week. Three-time Oscar-nominated director Wim Wenders, who was raised as a Catholic from Germany, made the project for the Vatican.
Wenders revealed that when he was asked to do the film, he stipulated that it wouldn't be a documentary about Catholicism. Instead, the project would be about Pope Francis' message to the people of the world, regardless of their religion, which the Vatican approved.
The director filmed the Pope for several afternoons in two years, where His Holiness spoke in his native language directly to his camera. Pope Francis revealed his thoughts on religious intolerance, the LGBT community, climate change and the refugee crisis in the documentary.
Wenders, however, noted that when the subject of child abuse cases involving the clergy came up, the Pope's face changed.
"Each time, this was the most agitated and the most furious he got, and you realized it was something that tormented him so much," the director said. "He really got very adamant: 'Tolerencia cero.' 'Zero tolerance' was really from the heart. It was the angriest thing he said in the entire interview."
The documentary's release comes as the Pope is set to meet with Chilean bishops this week to discuss the string of child sex abuse cases that has marred the image of the Catholic Church in Latin America.
"Pope Francis: A Man of His Word" will also get a nationwide release in U.S. theaters beginning May 18. Variety reports that 300 theaters will screen the movie across the country.
"We got this very exclusive time with the pope speaking directly to the cameras," film distributor Focus Features head Lisa Bunnell said. "As soon as we had the film, we knew there was obviously [going to be] a lot of interest from religious groups," she added. "We felt it was something that needed to go nationwide."
