The first film on the blessed Carlo Acutis is getting closer and closer

The director, José María Zavala, steadily advances in the filming of his latest film work, El Cielo no puede esperar (Heaven Can’t Wait), produced by Inés and Borja Zavala, about the blessed Carlo Acutis, theinfluencer of God.

Aleteia he contacted him to evaluate the progress of the film, of which a beautiful poster is already available.

At what point is it El Cielo no puede esperar?

In the cinema of values, at least based on my personal experience for the four films I have directed so far (El Misterio del Padre Pío, Renacidos, Wojtyla. The investigation And Amanece en Calcuta), there is an infallible equation: the more difficulties and suffering one encounter, the more fruit there is among the spectators.

Exactly the same has happened with the twenty or so books on spirituality that I have published so far. It means that films and books are tools for doing good in the hearts of many people. Therefore, they are not strictly my works, but instruments, as I say, which Jesus uses to work wonders in souls.

Could you give us some examples?

I have witnessed surprising conversions of young people or adults far from God, who thanks to one of these films or these books have changed their lives and now lead a life based on the sacraments. El Misterio del Padre Píojust to name one, it has also aroused priestly vocations.

What can I say now about my fifth film, El Cielo no puede esperardedicated to the young Italian blessed Carlo Acutis and which will be released in cinemas all over the world, God willing, next year?

A saint for young people

Did you encounter many difficulties in this process?

Judging by the interminable chain of technical, economic and other obstacles, I am convinced that it is another great instrument of God to shake, in this case, the closed hearts of thousands of young people who, many without knowing it, are asking a lot. voice a meaning for their wandering life that is none other than God himself, without whom it is impossible to be truly happy.

In this sense, the film will be a real revolution. A before and after for many young people, fathers of families, grandparents, friends …

Could young people identify with the Italian blessed?

The exemplary life of Carlo Acutis, who died at the age of fifteen from a fulminant leukemia, shows us, as he himself said, “the highway to Heaven” which is the Eucharist, which is why we never missed a Mass and he devoted whole hours to Eucharistic adoration.

Despite this, he was a normal boy, who transformed extraordinary things into something ordinary and in which many young people today can see themselves reflected as in a mirror.

Cinematic quality

The film certainly counts on a high-level artistic team …

The film is already in an advanced stage of editing, after the intense shooting carried out above all in Madrid and Assisi, where Carlo is buried, at the sight of the millions of pilgrims who go to ask for his intercession.

The photograph of a great Spanish cinema like Miguel Gilaberte (Ágora, Velvet, Alta Mar, Es por tu bien), who has worked with directors such as Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenábar, shines from the very first frame.

Not to mention the editing by Rod Reego, who trained at New York Film Academy of Los Angeles, or Luis Mas, author of the original soundtrack and whose video clip of the official song became a hit with 400,000 views on YouTube in less than two weeks.

How is the financing of the project going?

We need help to move forward and make sure that El Cielo no puede esperar come out in many countries next year. This film is necessary for a hopeless and directionless youth. Help is needed first of all at the level of prayers, but also of generous donations of souls to meet the high costs of renting film equipment, image banks, post-production, sound, distribution …

Making cinema with values ​​is very uplifting for the soul, but it also requires financial means that are beyond the reach of young producers Borja and Inés Zavala, who are 21 and 27 years old respectively. Please God we can carry on this much-needed film!

Antonia Salzano

The first film on the blessed Carlo Acutis is getting closer and closer