A cardinal who stood against the corruption of political parties who are “destroying our institutions and robbing the younger generations of their future”, who called for “a dignified life for working people" and a Europe “not revolving around markets and traders”, and a supporter of radical change in the Church, which he described as “living 200 years in the past”. The figure of Carlo Maria Martini is depicted with great intensity in this portrait painted by the master Ermanno Olmi in his documentary Vedete, sono uno di voi. Written by the director in league with Corriere della Sera columnist and Martini’s own biographer Marco Garzonio, and produced by Istituto Luce Cinecittà together with RAI Cinema, the film was screened in a premiere in Milan Cathedral and will be distributed by Luce Cinecittà in March.

In order to reconstruct the life of the Archbishop of Milan, who passed away in 2012, the 86-year-old Bergamo director has availed himself of images taken from his own films and documentaries, as well as from audiovisual and photographic archives belonging to Luce, RAI, RSI, Centro Televisivo Vaticano and ZDF. Rather than sequentially, the historical facts and texts relating to Cardinal Martini are presented to us, the director explains, “according to a dramaturgy suggested – and at times even imposed – by emotional sensibilities, which is the approach most approximating the many, unique meanings of our shared existence”. Olmi’s narrating voice covers the dramatic moments – the terrorism years, the Mani Pulite corruption investigation, the social conflicts which affected the country – which this man of culture and religion lived through with great commitment, “a prophetic spirit who knew how to speak to historical facts, interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. A prophet of hope and a forerunner of Pope Francis”.