The Madman from La Verna

The Madman from La Verna

Director Otakáro Maria Schmidt

DOP Jiří Strnad

Main cast Jana Kristina Studničková, Marek Eben, Otakáro Maria Schmidt, Marek Orko Vácha

Script Otakáro Maria Schmidt

Co-producers Czech Television

The Franciscan spirituality and primarily the person of Francis of Assisi represents one of the most inspirational sources in the European cultural context. Despite the barrier of eight centuries, it has been appealing not only to Christians/Catholics but also to Muslims and those whom we are used to call nondenominational. Francis' language can be universal and it is not toothless at the same time. There are lots of Franciscan topics: the relation of man to nature, our place in the universe, the sense of suffering, humility, poverty as a gift (ability), interpersonal (inter-religious) dialogue, the knighthood of the spirit, sacrifice, love. The documentary has two story lines – the life of Franciscans at the present time, which mingles with the life of St. Francis himself. The film is a continuation of the documentaries by Otakáro M. Schmidt about Jesuits (We Are Not Angels, We Just Do Their Job), John of Nepomuk (The Most Famous Czech – John of Nepomuk, a Five Star Saint) and Salesians (Give Me Your Soul and Keep the Rest). These three previous films have shown the poetry of Otakáro’s style of direction and narration, which enables to transfer important information through images and entertainment. We want to combine acted scenes and documentary witness accounts with symbolic images of the world of today.

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