For a huge number of people all over the world, the head of the Catholic church is almost like having George, John, Paul and Ringo united in one person. He is the ultimate religious rock star with his own euphoric "Pope mania", and the brillant, ever uncompromising German filmmaker Romuald Karmakar - a regular at CPH:DOX - has travelled to the small Bavarian town of Marktl am Inn to examine it with his calm and objective camera. Here, Joseph Ratzinger, later known as Pope Benedict XVI, was born in 1927. Even if the Pope only lived here the first 20 years of his life, the town has turned into a big tourist magnet. Pope beer, Pope cakes and all sorts of souvenirs are traded here on a large scale. The film's second half takes place 11 days earlier in the Vatican, where Karmakar is in the middle of a huge group of passionately devoted Christians, who have turned up to show their respect for Pope Benedict XVI's predecessor, John Paul II. The massive crowd creates chaos, but also some very intense and emotional moments when all the people present unite to chant catholic tributes and prayers towards the church. An almost provokingly simple and accessible documentary from one of the most daring and interesting filmmakers of our times.

To download press material from the film, click here:

http://www.romuald-karmakar.de/

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