Evgeny Afineevsky’s ‘Francesco’ doc to premiere over Easter Weekend on Discovery+

Featuring exclusive interviews with Holiness Pope Francis, His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Mark Kennedy Shriver, Sister Norma Pimentel and more

From Emmy and Oscar-nominated director Evgeny Afineevsky (Cries from Syria, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom), Francesco features unprecedented access to His Holiness Pope Francis, providing an intimate look at a global leader who approaches challenging and complex issues with tremendous humility, wisdom and generosity towards all. The film will premiere on Discovery+ March 28, 2021.

Spanning issues such as climate change, migration and refugees, women’s empowerment, sexual abuse and LGBTQ issues, pandemic, border walls, and many more of today’s headlines, this documentary takes audiences on a worldwide journey to spotlight the incredible empathy displayed by a leader who continues to inspire hope during an extraordinary moment in our lifetime.  In doing so, the film examines how people might take action to transition into a new way of living and thriving in the 21st century.

“It is an honor to host the global premiere of Francesco on Discovery+, spotlighting an intimate look at one of the world’s most beloved and influential leaders, Pope Francis,” said Lisa Holme, SVP of Content and Commercial Strategy at Discovery, in a statement. “We are thrilled to work with a powerful storyteller like Evgeny on this important project, which is emblematic of our ability to expand our documentary programming aperture on Discovery+ to serve subscribers around the world with a diverse and growing slate of originals.”

“I am tremendously honored that Pope Francis allowed me to witness and create this inspirational monument dedicated to the most pressing issues facing humanity today,” Afineevsky said. “His commitment to people around the world will lead us out of this difficult historical moment and into a brighter future. He is a beacon of light in this world for many and strives every day to enlighten people on how to build a bridge to a better tomorrow. It is extremely exciting to partner with discovery+ to bring his story to people around the world on the same day.”

Francesco, which premiered at the 2020 Rome Film Festival, is written by, produced by Afineevsky, Den Tolmor, Eric Esralian and Teri Schwartz; executive produced by Ted Hope, Colleen Camp, Mark Monroe, Tomáš Srovnal, Michelle Bertrán Neve, Svetlana Chistyakova, Bonnie Abaunza, Bohdan Batruch, Regina K. Scully, Elba Luis Lugo, Geralyn White Dreyfous and Robert Fyvolent

Afineevsky’s previous film, the documentary Cries from Syria, was an Official Selection at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Afineevsky won Best Director and earned nomination for Best Documentary from the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. He and his film earned IPA Satellite Awards nominations for Best Documentary and Best Song in a Documentary for “Prayers for this World,” performed by Cher. He won International Documentary Association’s Courage Under Fire Award, earned a PGA Award nomination, won a Humanitas Prize and Cinema for Peace Awards as Most Valuable Documentary of the Year, won 32nd Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, Documentaries Without Borders Film Festival and 51st Houston WorldFest Film Festival, as well as the Overseas Press Club’s Peter Jennings Award.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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