The Pope's Guardians
Synopsis:
The Holy Guard is a documentary that traces the history and backgrounds of the Italian Police Force to the Vatican State, a secular police force, assigned to protect the Pope. Through the testimonies of members of the Police Force, historians and art historians, the story crosses the threshold of the Holy See, showing the daily activities, role, history and formation of the Inspectorate, revealing the diplomacy and discretion of a Police Force that faced the most critical moments of the history of the papacy. Following its responsibilities in the places close to the Vatican, in the control rooms and in other places that have been unexplored until today, the heroism, courage and fidelity to the office of the Police Force will be highlighted
Producer: Tosca Ghilardi
Director: Fabio Rao
Nation: Italy
Estimated length: 50 minutes
Screenplay: Fabio Rao, Enrico Miceli
Editing: Fabio Rao
Photography: Pierpaolo Perri
Production: Yellow s.r.l.
Budget forecast: 90.000 €
Funding confirmed: 30.000 €
Missing resources: 60.000 €
Objective: DISTRIBUTION, PRE-SALES, ACQUISITION
Shooting start: October, 2022
Planned end of shooting: December, 2023
Director’s notes:
The documentary explores the work of the Italian Police Force to the Vatican and will provide a unique insight into their assignment.
A visually compelling and realistic style documentary that explores the rich and complex structure of the Holy Popes protection, while maintaining a serious and informative tone, as well as being engaging and accessible to most audiences.
Production notes:
70% of the documentary production has already been completed, the interviews having been carried out; police meetings; the filming of some pilgrimages; the in-depth study on the training of recruits. The production phase will be completed with a further two or three days of filming and the insertion of archive material.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1981 in Ethiopia and raised in Italy, Fabio Rao trained at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) as an author and director. Throughout his career he has written and directed documentaries, video-art works, music videos and commercials, for Italian and international projects. Among his documentaries: Delitto Cosmai (2023); Telesio, Franco Battiato (2011). He is a member of AIR3
PRODUCTION Yellow s.r.l. | PRODUCER Tosca Ghilardi | CONTACTS tosca@yellowstories.it
Yellow Srl is a film and audiovisual production company established in Milan in 2021. It produces film and audiovisual content on an artistic, cultural and commercial level. It covers all stages of production and develops projects that aim to bring out the extraordinariness of places and traditions through different film genres. Works include Pioneras – international documentary; Vite Inquinate – short film; Ultima Generazione – documentary; Wolley – web series; La colonna – short film; Ninfa – series episode.