Ground-breaking ‘Francesco’ is centerpiece of Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
A decade ago, Russian-born filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky came to South Florida promoting his low-budget Jewish comedy starring Lainie Kazan, Bruce Vilanch, Saul Rubinek, John Lloyd Young, Jai Rodriguez and Carmen Electra – the not-so-subtly titled, “Oy Vey! My Son is Gay!”
“It’s not a movie for radical queers,” Vilanch joked at the time, describing Afineevsky to the Miami Herald as “a persuasive, persuasive man” who convinced him and the other stars to join the project.
After wrapping a 2013 Kickstarter campaign to distribute “Oy Vey!” (the sometimes-silly indie is now a fixture on Amazon Prime Video), producer-writer-director Afineevsky moved on to serious documentary making and got the last laugh.
In 2016, his Netflix film “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” was nominated for both an Oscar and an Emmy. The following year, Afineevsky’s “Cries From Syria” (now on HBO) was named 2017 Best Documentary at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
None of this, though, prepared him for the international fallout after his latest documentary, “Francesco,” about Pope Francis, premiered last month at the Rome Film Festival. A 20-second clip about recognizing gay couples made headlines worldwide:
“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” Francis says in the film, which will be screened four times as centerpiece this weekend at the current Fort Lauderdale film festival. (The festival is also presenting “Francesco” to stream online in Florida now through Nov. 22.)
After the Rome screening, Roman Catholics, LGBTQ activists, politicians and everyday people speculated whether Francis’ comments about gay couples — originally spoken but not aired in a Mexican TV interview – would lead to substantive change in how the church treats same-sex unions.
Afineevsky says that although he appreciates “Francesco” becoming an immediate international talk story about gay civil unions, he’d prefer more attention be paid to the rest of the film.
“What is fascinating is that the entire world has not seen the movie, but they all are talking about 20 seconds and reporting this,” said Afineevsky, who plans to attend the Friday and Saturday evening screenings and hold discussions afterward with audience members.
“I think what this movie gives to the viewer is not just these 20 seconds,” he said. “It’s an almost-two-hour movie which has much more to offer and much more to advocate on a global scale, on the disasters that many of us have not even seen.”
The pope “is not a talker like many other politicians of our day – he’s a man of action who calmly shows by his actions that we still can change today’s world,” Afineevsky continued. “We still can preserve nature. We still can preserve the peace. We can spread love. We can coexist as different religious groups. We can all be believers. We can be good human beings.”
Afineevsky – gay, Jewish and now of Los Angeles – said he was surprised he could so easily bond with Francis while making the movie.
“Because he is a human being of the biggest scale you can imagine,” Afineevsky said. “He’s humble. And he is able to appeal to every human being: old and young, rich and poor, on every street and road. And that’s what makes him a great person that you can learn from, that you can rely on, that you can trust.”
“Francesco” is not a biography of Francis, but shows how the pontiff has handled world crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, immigration and family separations, genocide and the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandals.
The abuse segment spotlights Juan Carlos Cruz, who grew up in Chile and as an adult sued Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, the church and cardinals.
“The criminal lawsuit went through every single court,” Cruz told the Herald. “There was a lot of funny business because the priest, Karadima, had a lot of friends. But eventually the judge ruled in our favor. But, unfortunately, the statute of limitations did not permit her to put him in jail. Even though everything we said and did was true.”
Along the way, church leaders viciously attacked Cruz, he said. “They had tried to destroy me because of being gay and all that. The cardinals in Chile, for example, said ‘Juan Carlos Cruz, 15 years old, wasn’t a victim because he was gay and he liked it.’ Imagine how cruel is that?”
Cruz moved to the United States about 20 years ago. Today, he lives in Philadelphia and does global communications for a lithium company. After decades fighting for justice, two years ago he had a Vatican audience with Francis himself.
“I was very nervous because for me it means something. He meant something. And for me it meant telling him not just my story, but telling him the stories of a lot of men and women that have suffered what I suffered. It was important for him to understand that this wasn’t a public-relations exercise, it was the lives of so many people who have been affected by this.
“His understanding and his sincere apology and then the mutual, uh, friendship that has come after that, and the way I can talk to him – always with respect, but very truthfully. It’s been incredible.”
Cruz said Francis told him: “God made you gay. God loves you.”
Since their initial meeting, the two have stayed in regular contact, Cruz said. “I never expected this boy who was abused and was so shy, and had to leave his country and build his life here, to now have this personal relationship with him. And respect and friendship, I would say.”
Cruz attended the Rome premiere of “Francesco.”
“I was quite emotional, I must say. It’s a beautiful movie. And not just the abuse part of it, but the whole thing. Especially in a time where we’re going through such horror and so many people are suffering so, so much. It’s amazing to see a movie where Pope Francis has been doing so much for so many.”
“Francesco” premiered Oct. 21, Afineevsky’s 48th birthday. After the screening, a smiling pope presented a large cake with flaming candle to the producer-director.
“That shows you how the pope is: so human, so normal,” said Cruz, who attended the birthday celebration. “It was incredible to see.”
Journalist Steve Rothaus covered LGBTQ issues for 22 years at the Miami Herald.
IF YOU GO
“Francesco” will be screened four times at the 35th annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
5 p.m. Friday at Savor Cinema, 503 SE Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale. $19.95 per ticket.
7:45 p.m. Friday at Savor Cinema, 503 SE Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale. $32.56 per ticket, includes festival centerpiece party afterward.
6:45 p.m. Saturday at Cinema Paradiso, 2008 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $19.95 per ticket.
1 p.m. Sunday at Cinema Paradiso, 2008 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $19.95 per ticket.
“Francesco” is also now available to stream online within Florida only as part of FLIFF’s Virtual Festival. Tickets are $15. Screenings must be completed within 48 hours of starting the film or by Nov 22.
For details and more information, visit https://fliff.com.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/urftMIAraOk