Cinema and human dignity: Pope Francis’s cinematic proposal and its relationship with filmic personalism

Abstract This article considers whether the Pope Francis’s proposal in his approach to cinema as a subject for reflection, i.e., as a suitable media for presenting ideas, can be related to an interpretation of the best cinema that highlights the dignity of the person, particularly the most fragile and defenceless, and which thereby helps us train our gaze on true humanity. To answer this question, the meaning of Hollywood’s ‘filmic personalism’ as a cinematic philosophy and its relationship with film studies will be analysed. Following from this, the cinematographic phenomenology of film studies of French personalism will be related to Hollywood’s film personalism to show that there are elements of deep convergence around defending cinema as an art that serves personal dignity, despite certain aspects of difference. This will be particularly visible in the interrelationship that can be traced between Italian neorealism and Hollywood filmic personalism, proving that neorealism was a form of personalism for some Italian writers. At the same time, we keep in mind that there are current expressions of filmic personalism. We conclude with solid arguments that are given to establish an approach between the cinematic proposal of Pope Francis and filmic personalism.