The head of Discovery+ is bullish on high-end nonfiction content.
“We’re investing in premium documentaries, a genre that we know our subscribers want more of,” Lisa Holme, group SVP of content and commercial strategy for Discovery, said Thursday at the streamer’s Winter Press Tour presentation. She added, “That allows us to support some of the best storytellers in the business.”
Among those acclaimed storytellers is Oscar-nominated filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, whose latest documentary, Francesco, premieres on Discovery+ on March 28. The film examines Pope Francis’s moral leadership on many of the most important problems facing the world.
“From the beginning the idea was to have us, humanity, as the key element of the story…what disasters we created, what poverty we created, what injustice we created,” Afineevsky said during the TCA panel. “And to tell his story as...
“We’re investing in premium documentaries, a genre that we know our subscribers want more of,” Lisa Holme, group SVP of content and commercial strategy for Discovery, said Thursday at the streamer’s Winter Press Tour presentation. She added, “That allows us to support some of the best storytellers in the business.”
Among those acclaimed storytellers is Oscar-nominated filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, whose latest documentary, Francesco, premieres on Discovery+ on March 28. The film examines Pope Francis’s moral leadership on many of the most important problems facing the world.
“From the beginning the idea was to have us, humanity, as the key element of the story…what disasters we created, what poverty we created, what injustice we created,” Afineevsky said during the TCA panel. “And to tell his story as...
- 2/12/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
“Francesco,” a comprehensive documentary about Pope Francis with unprecedented access to the The Vatican, will air on Discovery on March 28, to mark the start of Holy Week. The film was directed by Israeli-American filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, who received Oscar and Emmy nominations for 2015’s “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.” “Francesco” premiered at the Rome Film Festival, where Discovery+ acquired it as part of the channel’s ambitious new documentary film slate.
“”From the beginning, I got a green light from The Vatican, I never had any restrictions. I had full freedom,” Afineevsky said during Discovery’s session of the TCA’s ongoing winter press tour.
Though he had no restrictions, the film does not address any right-to-life issues, including abortion access or physician-assisted death.
“It was more important to not focus on the Catholic Church, but to focus on the global issues that are related to humanity, that...
“”From the beginning, I got a green light from The Vatican, I never had any restrictions. I had full freedom,” Afineevsky said during Discovery’s session of the TCA’s ongoing winter press tour.
Though he had no restrictions, the film does not address any right-to-life issues, including abortion access or physician-assisted death.
“It was more important to not focus on the Catholic Church, but to focus on the global issues that are related to humanity, that...
- 2/11/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Discovery+, the non-fiction subscription streaming service, has acquired and will globally launch the documentary film “Francesco” about Pope Francis.
“Francesco” will provide an intimate look at His Holiness and his approach to complex issues like climate change, migration and refugees, female empowerment, sexual abuse and Lbgtq issues, the pandemic and border walls. The film features interviews with his nephew Jose Ignacio Bergoglio and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as well as Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim and activist for survivors of sexual abuse, and Sister Norma Pimentel, an advocate for refugees.
The documentary film will begin streaming globally at the start of Holy Week on March 28, following an opening in virtual cinemas.
Oscar-nominated director and producer Evgeny Afineevksy directs “Francesco.” Producers are Afineevksy, Den Tolmor, Eric Esrailian and Teri Schwartz, while Ted Hope, Colleen Camp, Mark Monroe, Tomáš Srovnal, Michelle Bertrán Neve, Svetlana Chistyakova, Bonnie Abaunza, Bohdan Batruch, Regina K. Scully,...
“Francesco” will provide an intimate look at His Holiness and his approach to complex issues like climate change, migration and refugees, female empowerment, sexual abuse and Lbgtq issues, the pandemic and border walls. The film features interviews with his nephew Jose Ignacio Bergoglio and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as well as Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim and activist for survivors of sexual abuse, and Sister Norma Pimentel, an advocate for refugees.
The documentary film will begin streaming globally at the start of Holy Week on March 28, following an opening in virtual cinemas.
Oscar-nominated director and producer Evgeny Afineevksy directs “Francesco.” Producers are Afineevksy, Den Tolmor, Eric Esrailian and Teri Schwartz, while Ted Hope, Colleen Camp, Mark Monroe, Tomáš Srovnal, Michelle Bertrán Neve, Svetlana Chistyakova, Bonnie Abaunza, Bohdan Batruch, Regina K. Scully,...
- 1/27/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
It’s the rare documentary film premiere that triggers worldwide headlines, but that’s what has happened with Evgeny Afineevsky’s Francesco. The film about Pope Francis debuted at the Rome Film Festival today and first the Catholic press and then secular media picked up on something the pope told Afineevsky in the film: Gay people should be allowed to form civil unions.
The Catholic Church traditionally has been hostile to homosexual activity, calling it “deviant behavior.” It has preached acceptance of gay people but called the idea of conferring legal status on same sex unions an attack on the family. What Pope Francis told Afineevsky contradicted that orthodoxy.
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it,” the pope says in Francesco. “What...
The Catholic Church traditionally has been hostile to homosexual activity, calling it “deviant behavior.” It has preached acceptance of gay people but called the idea of conferring legal status on same sex unions an attack on the family. What Pope Francis told Afineevsky contradicted that orthodoxy.
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it,” the pope says in Francesco. “What...
- 10/21/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Amid controversy over recent sexual abuse scandals and the fire bombings of churches in Chile, a Roman Catholic country, Pope Francis sent a solemn apology to the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy during his week-long visit in Chile.
“I am one with my brother bishops, for it is right to ask forgiveness and make every effort to support the victims, even as we commit ourselves to ensuring that such things do not happen again,” the pope said in Santiago, Chile’s capital, while standing alongside the country’s president Michelle Bachelet on Jan. 16.
Although Francis’ apology...
“I am one with my brother bishops, for it is right to ask forgiveness and make every effort to support the victims, even as we commit ourselves to ensuring that such things do not happen again,” the pope said in Santiago, Chile’s capital, while standing alongside the country’s president Michelle Bachelet on Jan. 16.
Although Francis’ apology...
- 1/17/2018
- by Thatiana Diaz
- PEOPLE.com
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