Martin Scorsese to produce documentary made with Pope Francis
Aldeas – A New Story will feature conversations between the Pope and Scorsese, including what the filmmakers say is the Pope's final in-depth on-camera interview for a film. The documentary will detail the work of Scholas Occurrentes, a non-profit, international organisation founded by the Pope in 2013 to promote the 'Culture of Encounter' among youth.
Part of that organisation's work has included filmmaking under the Aldeas initiative. The documentary will show young people in Indonesia, Italy and the Gambia participating in Aldeas and making short films.
Aldeas Scholas Film and Scorsese's Sikelia Productions, which announced the documentary overnight, said the film was 'a testament to the enduring belief that creativity is not only a means of expression but a path to hope and transformation.'
Before his death, Francis called Aldeas 'an extremely poetic and very constructive project because it goes to the roots of what human life is, human sociability, human conflicts ... the essence of a life's journey.'
No release date was announced for the film.
Scorsese won the Palme d'Or at Cannes with Taxi Driver in 1976 and went on to produce many highly acclaimed films, including Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed and, most recently, Killers of the Flower Moon.
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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
This master filmmaker realised his work was meaningless. So he made more art
When he won the Palme d'Or with Uncle Boonme in 2010, he was approached to make independent American films – but preferred writing his own and working with his trusted producers. So, was he never offered a Hollywood superhero movie? 'I wish,' Weerasethakul says. 'That would make my day.' But he quickly plays down his interest. 'I really like special effects so if I do it, it will be to learn that.' For the new installation, Weerasethakul wanted to create 'something about movement, about components of cinema, about activating space that is not normally there'. It continues one of the masters of slow cinema's fascination with dreams, nature, time, ghosts and memory. After earlier versions were exhibited in Bangkok and Japan, Weerasethakul recruited two artists from Bangkok experimental studio DuckUnit, Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid, to create a new version with him for the MCA. He says installations allow him to create a different relationship between the viewer and the image than he can with a film. 'In cinemas, you just become zombies,' he says. 'Just hypnotised.' While he tries to break that down by making audiences more aware of time than in a conventional film – using such techniques as a meditative pace, unusual sounds and unexpected framing – an installation lets the viewer create their own experience. MCA senior curator Jane Devery says Weerasethakul is rare among artists for having equal status in film and visual arts. 'With film, it's generally 90 minutes long, you sit in a theatre and you're kind of directed how to behave and how to experience the work, whereas with installation the viewer has greater agency,' she says. 'You can choose what to look at, how much time you spend here, how you move around the work. So it's a very different experience.' When he last visited for the opening of an installation at the Sydney Biennale in 2016, Weerasethakul was planning to make his first film outside Thailand because of concerns about censorship at a politically volatile time. That became Memoria, which had Swinton as a Scottish expat in Colombia searching for the source of strange booming sound that only she could hear. Weerasethakul is no longer worried about Thailand authorities blocking artistic expression. Loading 'Questions [about] authority, the monarchy and all these taboos shifted really quickly and there are more younger people allowed to lead,' he says. 'As an older generation, I used to lose hope in living there and so-called freedom. Now it's much more open.' Despite that change, Weerasethakul is still planning to shoot his next film outside Thailand. He will shoot what's reportedly called The Fountains of Paradise, inspired by writer Arthur C. Clarke's life, in Sri Lanka with Swinton starring again. 'It's going to be focused on Sigiriya, this mountain rock in Sri Lanka,' Weerasethakul says. 'That's a big fascination for me. 'In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Richard Dreyfuss was really attracted to this mountain. It's the same for me.' Swinton has become such a muse that she also features in a new installation opening in Amsterdam next month. 'Because of her playfulness, it's almost like she's water or something I can sculpt and play together,' he says.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
This master filmmaker realised his work was meaningless. So he made more art
When he won the Palme d'Or with Uncle Boonme in 2010, he was approached to make independent American films – but preferred writing his own and working with his trusted producers. So, was he never offered a Hollywood superhero movie? 'I wish,' Weerasethakul says. 'That would make my day.' But he quickly plays down his interest. 'I really like special effects so if I do it, it will be to learn that.' For the new installation, Weerasethakul wanted to create 'something about movement, about components of cinema, about activating space that is not normally there'. It continues one of the masters of slow cinema's fascination with dreams, nature, time, ghosts and memory. After earlier versions were exhibited in Bangkok and Japan, Weerasethakul recruited two artists from Bangkok experimental studio DuckUnit, Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid, to create a new version with him for the MCA. He says installations allow him to create a different relationship between the viewer and the image than he can with a film. 'In cinemas, you just become zombies,' he says. 'Just hypnotised.' While he tries to break that down by making audiences more aware of time than in a conventional film – using such techniques as a meditative pace, unusual sounds and unexpected framing – an installation lets the viewer create their own experience. MCA senior curator Jane Devery says Weerasethakul is rare among artists for having equal status in film and visual arts. 'With film, it's generally 90 minutes long, you sit in a theatre and you're kind of directed how to behave and how to experience the work, whereas with installation the viewer has greater agency,' she says. 'You can choose what to look at, how much time you spend here, how you move around the work. So it's a very different experience.' When he last visited for the opening of an installation at the Sydney Biennale in 2016, Weerasethakul was planning to make his first film outside Thailand because of concerns about censorship at a politically volatile time. That became Memoria, which had Swinton as a Scottish expat in Colombia searching for the source of strange booming sound that only she could hear. Weerasethakul is no longer worried about Thailand authorities blocking artistic expression. Loading 'Questions [about] authority, the monarchy and all these taboos shifted really quickly and there are more younger people allowed to lead,' he says. 'As an older generation, I used to lose hope in living there and so-called freedom. Now it's much more open.' Despite that change, Weerasethakul is still planning to shoot his next film outside Thailand. He will shoot what's reportedly called The Fountains of Paradise, inspired by writer Arthur C. Clarke's life, in Sri Lanka with Swinton starring again. 'It's going to be focused on Sigiriya, this mountain rock in Sri Lanka,' Weerasethakul says. 'That's a big fascination for me. 'In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Richard Dreyfuss was really attracted to this mountain. It's the same for me.' Swinton has become such a muse that she also features in a new installation opening in Amsterdam next month. 'Because of her playfulness, it's almost like she's water or something I can sculpt and play together,' he says.
Perth Now
04-08-2025
- Perth Now
Sharon Stone claims she had a heated 'argument' with Michael Douglas before Basic Instinct
Sharon Stone had an "argument" with Michael Douglas before they starred in Basic Instinct together. The pair featured as the leads in the 1992 erotic thriller but she recalled that they had previously got into a row at the Cannes Film Festival which meant they didn't do a screen test together. In an interview with Business Insider, Sharon said: "(He) did not want to put his bare a** out on the screen with an unknown - and I understood that. "He wouldn't even test with me, but that was also for a different reason: We had an argument prior to that." The 67-year-old actress continued: "A bunch of us were all sitting, and he was talking about someone and their kids. I really, really knew this person he was talking about. "So I said something and he responded to me, saying, 'What the f*** do you know?' It was in regard to a father-child relationship. "Clearly, it triggered him. So he screams this at me across a whole group of people. And I'm not the person who goes, 'Oh, excuse me, superstar.' I pushed back my chair and said to him, 'Let's step outside.' That's how we first met. "I explained to him what the f*** I knew about this family he was speaking about, and that I was best friends with the children and the parent. And then we parted, I wouldn't say as best friends, but amicably. "So, fast forward to casting Basic Instinct, I don't think he wanted me to be his co-star." However, Michael's representative Allen Burry claims that the Wall Street star, 80, is "very surprised" by Sharon's claims as "he doesn't remember any argument in that timeframe" between the pair. Burry told People: "He actually only remembers seeing and meeting Sharon for the first time when he saw (director) Paul Verhoeven's screen test of her for Basic Instinct and (Michael) said, 'Absolutely, she's the one.'" He added that Douglas "definitely spent time" with Stone at Cannes but that was when they were promoting Basic Instinct. Burry said: "And by the time they'd done the movie, they were friends." Sharon added that the previously fraught dynamic between the duo "worked great" once they got on set as she was "not rattled" by his fiery temper. The Casino star said: "That was interesting for the character because Michael has a temper, and I didn't care. That worked well in our dynamic." Sharon stressed that the argument is in the past and that the pair are now good pals. She said: "Eventually, we became the greatest of friends, to this day. "I admire him tremendously."
