Pope Leo XIV has told a group of leading Hollywood actors and filmmakers that more should be done to protect struggling neighbourhood cinemas in order to preserve the shared experience of watching movies.
Screen stars Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, Chris Pine and Oscar-winning director Spike Lee were among the celebrities to greet the pope at an audience in the Vatican on Saturday.
Leo, the first pope to have been born in the United States, told the group the cinema industry was a vital “workshop of hope” at a time of global uncertainty and digital overload.
“Cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighbourhoods,” he said.
“More than a few people are saying that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger.
“I urge institutions not to give up, but to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value of this activity.”
Box office revenues in many countries remain well below the levels recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic, with multiplexes in the United States and Canada just suffering their worst summer since 1981, excluding the COVID shutdown.
The pope encouraged filmmakers to confront violence, war, poverty and loneliness. (Vatican Media via Reuters: Simone Risoluti)
‘Logic of algorithms’ must be resisted: pope
Pope Leo said cinema, which marks its 130th anniversary this year, had grown from a simple play of light and shadow into a form capable of revealing humanity’s deepest questions.
“Cinema is not just moving pictures; it sets hope in motion,” he said, adding that entering a theatre was “like crossing a threshold” where the imagination widens.
A culture shaped by constant digital stimuli, however, risks reducing stories to whatever algorithms predict will succeed, he said.
Spike Lee gifts the pope a custom New York Knicks #14 jersey. (Vatican Media via Reuters: Simone Risoluti)
“The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what works, but art opens up what is possible,” he said, urging filmmakers to defend “slowness, silence and difference” when telling their stories.
The pope also encouraged artists to confront violence, war, poverty and loneliness with honesty, saying good cinema “does not exploit pain; it recognises and explores it”.
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He praised not only directors and actors but also the vast array of behind-the-scenes workers whose craft makes movies possible, calling filmmaking “a collective endeavour in which no-one is self-sufficient”.
At the end of his speech, the long list of invitees met the pope one-by-one, with many offering him gifts — including Spike Lee, who gave him a New York Knicks basketball jersey emblazoned with “Pope Leo 14”.
Ahead of Saturday’s meeting, the Vatican shared four of the pope’s favourite films: Robert Wise’s family musical The Sound of Music, Frank Capra’s feel-good It’s a Wonderful Life, Robert Redford’s heart-wrenching Ordinary People and Roberto Benigni’s sentimental World War II drama Life is Beautiful.
Reuters
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.abc.net.au ’
