Das neue Evangelium

What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would his disciples be? Director Milo Rau (THE CONGO TRIBUNAL) returns to the origins of the Gospel in the southern Italian city of Matera and stages it as a passion play of a society characterized by injustice and inequality. Together with the political activist Yvan Sagnet, who embodies Jesus, Rau creates a profoundly biblical story. Following Jesus' example, Yvan returns to the largest of the refugee camps near Matera as a "fisher of men". He finds his "disciples" among those stranded there. Desperate people who have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe to be enslaved in the tomato fields of southern Italy, where they live in inhumane conditions in veritable ghettos - more than 500,000 people in Italy alone. Together with local small farmers, they founded the "Revolt of Dignity", a political campaign fighting for the rights of migrants.

At the same time, Milo Rau casts other roles with actors and actresses from the films of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Mel Gibson: Enrique Irazoqui, Pasolini's recently deceased Jesus actor, can be seen in his last film role. As John the Baptist, he hands over the baton of the Jesus role to Yvan Sagnet with his baptism. Maia Morgenstern plays the mother of the Messiah - just like Mel Gibson. And the critically acclaimed Marcello Fonte, who won Best Actor at Cannes 2018, plays Pontius Pilate. DOP Thomas Eirich-Schneider is to thank for the iconographically strong angles and impressive images, which are accompanied by Vinicio Capossela's emotive music and voiceover.

THE NEW EVANGELIUM is a cinematic masterpiece between documentary, feature film and political action art. Pop star of the cultural and theater scene Milo Rau stages a modern story of a Black Jesus with radically topical references together with refugee activist Yvan Sagnet.