To see at the cinema: Who dies at 67, this American historical figure is eligible for a painful biopic

After The Sound of Liberty, which opened in theaters on November 15, 2023 amid controversy, director Alejandro Monteverde is back with a new film: Cabrini. Regarding the sensitive issue of child trafficking, this time the director proposes a biopic on a great religious figure: Francesca Cabrini.

The story of the great lady

When the latter arrived in New York in 1889, he had nothing, like thousands of Italian immigrants. With the help of several sisters, despite her fragile health and isolation in a patriarchal society, she embarks on an unprecedented adventure, building an orphanage, then a hospital, and gradually a real “Empire of Hope”.

His courage, his courage, and his charity made him the first American saint to be canonized in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. The film therefore depicts real events in the life of the nun, also known as Françoise-Xavier Cabrin.

In the 19th century, he was the first American citizen canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. An immigrant from the Italian province of Lodi, Cabrini founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a religious institution that supported Italian immigrants to America.

Let us remind you that the role of Francesca Cabrini is played by the Italian actress Christiana Dell’Anna. The 38-year-old is best known for playing the character of Patrizia in the hit series Gomorra from 2016 to 2019.

The patron saint of immigrants

Cabrini was born in northern Italy in 1850. Together with six missionary sisters, she went to New York in 1889. He was naturalized in Seattle on October 9, 1909. He died in Chicago on December 22, 1917, at the age of 67. Chronic endocarditis. The nun was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1946 and four years later received the title of patron of immigrants.

The biographical project has been working for almost 10 years. In 2015, Sister Marie-Louise Sullivan, of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, asked businessman J. Eustace Wolfington to participate in the making of a film about the founder of his order.

The latter categorically refuses until he is convinced: “His persistence exhausted my resistance”, he admits. He then approached Alejandro Monteverde, whose previous feature films he had produced, to offer him the project.

Cabrini will be released in French cinemas on March 20.