KAROL, UN UOMO DIVENTATO PAPA/ KAROL, THE MAN WHO BECAME POPE

Year 1939. German troops invade Poland. Karol, a student of the Jagiellonian University, witnesses the arrestment of his professors and brutal breaching of the nation’s right to keep its identity. He decides to refrain from armed struggle and sacrifices himself to save the spiritual heritage of the nation instead. Karol loses the people he loves: his father, friends and mates. In this evil world, he tries to bear witness to human and religious values based on the doctrine of the Church. He becomes a priest. The film shows the future pope: a man gifted with charisma and sensitive to human suffering. The shooting started at the end of John Paul II’s life. The film had its premiere after his death.

Written by: Giacomo Battiato (based on the book “Stories of Karol” by Gian Franco Svidercoschi)
Director of photography: Giovanni Mammolotti
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Production design by: Janusz Sosnowski
Costume design by: Małgorzata Zacharska
Sound: Dave Tinsley
Cast: Piotr Adamczyk (Karol Wojtyła), Raoul Bova (priest Tomasz Zaleski), Szymon Bobrowski (Captain Macke), Olgierd Łukaszewicz (Karol’s father), Kinga Preis (Karol’s mother), Kenneth Welsh (Professor Wójcik) Lech Mackiewicz (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński), Sławomir Rokita (Cardinal Felici), Andrzej Descur (father Stanisław), Małgosia Bela (Hania), Mateusz Damięcki (Wiktor), Radosław Pazura (Paweł)
Produced by: Taodue Film S.r.I.
Producer: Pietro Valsecchi
Distributed by: ITI Cinema