Thomas Heiseâs film reframes Pope Benedict XVIâs September 2011 visit to Erfurt not as a triumphal âPope-maniaâ spectacle but as a meticulously orchestrated state ritual. In austere black-and-white, the omnipresent pontiff yields to police, snipers, security guards and a nervous premier, all in rigid protocol amidst Thuringiaâs Catholic enclave. Under the cathedralâs slogan, âWe are all together in our beliefs,â Heise quietly asks whether such choreographed faith still holds meaning.
