Held in the Paul VI hall, the event's guest of honour is Pope Benedict XVI. The premiere in the Holy City coincides with the 30th anniversary of John Paul II being elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican publishing house Libreria Editrice Vaticana has co-produced the title.

"I have accompanied him for almost forty years...," is the opening line of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz's cinematic story about the life of John Paul II. The story of a long-standing secretary and close friend to the Pope was first released as a book. Published in 2007 and translated into over a dozen languages, it sold over a million copies in Poland.

Testimony now premieres on the big screen and substantially diverges from the original memoirs. This is not a timeline of the pontificate but rather an intimate portrait of the Pope as a man. The movie's storyline adds to original book, revealing for the very first time facts from John Paul's pontificate which will undoubtedly astonish the most seasoned Vaticanologists.

Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz's tale is set against never-before-published documentary materials and photographs from the Vatican's archives and private collections. These are supplemented by poignantly re-enacted scenes featuring original objects used daily by Karol Wojtyła, such as a portable altar which always accompanied him during tourist excursions when he was a bishop; his own liturgical vessels, cassock and belt. The makers of the movie who worked at his house in Wadowice, in which the future pope had been raised, had an impression they were dealing with real relics.

All elements of the movie are brought together by the narrator, the British actor Michael York (Cabaret, Jesus of Nazareth).

Work on the movie lasted almost one year, and shooting began in autumn 2007. The film was shot on location in Vatican City, Kraków, and Wadowice. The dramatised reconstructions of landmark events from the life of Karol Wojtyła were shot on locations across Europe.

The music that opens and closes the film is composed by the internationally renowned composer and Academy Award-winner, Vangelis. The remaining original score of Testimony has been composed by Polish musician, Robert Janson.

Testimony tells the a tale of an entire century in the history of Poland, Europe, and the world. It is a story of the 20th century and the new millennium. Priceless for Catholics, the movie also portrays John Paul II in the secular context. Defining the historical, political and sociological backdrop to his pontificate, it illustrates the role of one of the greatest people in the history of Europe and the world.



Screenplay based on memoirs by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz: Gian Franco Svidercoschi, Paweł Pitera, rev. Paweł Ptasznik

Producer: Przemysław Häuser

Directed by: Paweł Pitera

Music score: Vangelis and Robert Janson

Director of photography: Janusz Tatarkiewicz

Editing: Cezary Grzesiuk

Set design: Rafał Waltenberger, Maria Duffek

Duration: 90 minutes

Production: TBA Group in cooperation with Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Agora SA, NewCast/ZenithOptimedia Group and Network Production

Based on the book Testimony (original title "Una Vita con Karol")

S. Dziwisz i G. Svidercoschi 2007 RCS Libri S.p.A - Milano