VATICAN CITY (April 20, 2026) – Scholas Occurrentes, the global educational movement founded by Pope Francis, will unveil first-look images from Aldeas, the final dream of Pope Francis: an upcoming film and global cultural initiative entrusted by Pope Francis himself to Academy Award®-winning director Martin Scorsese. To mark the first anniversary of his passing, the Vatican will host an intimate private screening of the film on April 21.
Filmed across Italy, Indonesia, The Gambia, and Vatican City, Aldeas features Pope Francis’ last, never-before-seen on-screen testimony, recorded shortly before his passing. At its heart is a film in which entire communities come together to create and share their own stories, including a return by Martin Scorsese to his grandfather’s village in Sicily, where he works with local young people to make a film of their own. A powerful convergence of Pope Francis’ and Martin Scorsese’s visions of art, spirituality, and humanity, Aldeas moves beyond traditional cinema, transforming storytelling into an act of resistance, identity, and purpose, and positioning film as a force for a new culture.
Rooted in Pope Francis’ vision, Aldeas is what he described as “an extraordinarily poetic and deeply transformative project, because it reaches the very root of human life: our sociability, our conflicts, and the very essence of life’s journey.” As Scorsese reflects, “Pope Francis understood that cinema would play a fundamental role in making the culture of encounter a reality”. Working from the peripheries, the project creates space for people to tell their own stories, celebrating cultural diversity while fostering intercultural and intergenerational dialogue. It is a new kind of cinema, born from a new kind of education, helping shape a new culture.
The film is produced by Aldeas Scholas Films in association with Sikelia Productions and Massive Owl Productions. Producers include Martin Scorsese, Teresa Leveratto, Ezequiel del Corral, and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, with Lisa Frechette, Romilda de Luca, Ariel Tcach, and Ariel Broitman serving as executive producers. Directors Clare Tavernor and Johnny Shipley, together with producer Amy Foster, lead the creative team. Acclaimed cinematographers Ellen Kuras and Salvatore Totino also contributed to the film. The project also features collaborations with internationally recognized artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, including actor Babou Ceesay, actress Happy Salma, and Academy Award®-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore, representing Africa, Asia, and Europe, respectively.
Both the film and the broader project are independently financed by international sponsors and donors, ensuring that all proceeds are reinvested in sustaining and expanding the initiative globally. LBI Entertainment and Double Agent are handling sales.
