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About the movie

China’s main land mass of a continent has never been discovered by Francis Xavier but it didn’t stop two Jesuits to film a movie about him. It was a long trip that began in Europe and led all the way to India to Macau finishing for the Jubilee Year. “Xavier” is the name of the documentary movie saw its premier on the 2 of May at Fordham University. More than 300 people showed up at the premier and praised the movie’s success. The scrip-writer seemed very positive about the movie – “Marco Polo was of the best but Xavier’s letters made an impact on Asia as well”, said Jeff Johnson (NOR). “He is not ordinary and this is exactly what makes this movie special”. Jeff and Jeremy Zipple ( NOR), who happens to be the co-creator of the movie, claims that it didn’t even cross his mind once to make Faber and Ignatius the possible subjects. They knew they had a very strong role-model in life and decided to follow his path from the very beginning till the very end. Johnson also stated that there are only a few facts known about Xavier as his background is not the most popular subject, though there is some good historical scholarship on him. Jesuit audience is not the major target of the movie release. Though the will be spread around various Jesuit high schools, college and universities before the autumn semester starts , the movie creators want the DVD to touch all the society layers. Johnson wants to believe that PBS or the History Channel will be excited as they are about the movie and will give a helping hand in distribution, giving a wider audience the chance to come to know the peripatetic saint a little better. The making of the movie about Xavier required a lot of research work, traveling and interviews. There was a special shooting schedule created for everyone to stick to. All the members of the crew were obliged to have a possibility to travel, which according to the words of Zipple was “totally crazy”. But it didn’t stop the crew from having some trouble on the sets of the movie. When authorities of China understood that the filming required lots of electronic devices and different types of equipment they banned the crew from entering the mainland. The island of Sancian was banned for the entry as well. This island was supposed to be the major part of the movie as this is exactly the place Xavier died in 1552. They had to shoot the death episode around the Macau region instead. That pilgrimage brought them full circle, from Navarre, Spain, Xavier’s birthplace, to the Far East. Xavier thought it was a big loss of his life not entering China, but mainly this matter turned out to be a great advantage for the Jesuits as it gave them a possibility to contact different society members and make a clear statement all around the world. Zipple admits that it was “the most unbelievable part of the whole experience they had with the movie”. He viewed the script as a chance to get to know Francis Xavier as we never knew him before. This is what se said: “With the help of this movie I came to understand Xavier better. I feel him of the personal and intimate level. His character is very strong and we felt the connection with him while making the movie. It really changed the way the movie turned out to be in the end”.