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Lady Blanka Rosenstiel Lecture Series on Poland Screening of film “The Divine Plan” with Filmmaker Robert Orlando | FIU—April 2, 2019
David Kramer and filmmaker Robert Orlando
To commemorate the 14th anniversary of the passing of Pope John Paul II, FlU’s European & Eurasian Studies Program and the European Student Association at FIU in collaboration with The American Institute of Polish Culture and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland screened publicly the film, “The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War” on April 2.
faith with political acumen and highoctane star power. A plot that involves two assassination attempts, KGB scheming, CIA intrigue and the final act to topple the Soviet Empire.
Based in part on captivating prose by Paul Kengor from his book A Pope & A President, the film discusses the American victory in the Cold War and its spiritual dimension. It explores the biographies of the two charismatic leaders to find Directed by Robert Orlando, whose the sources of their extraordinary credits include “Apostle Paul: A Po- commitment to the cause of vanlite Bribe” and the recent “Silence quishing the Soviet empire. Patton: First Victim of the Cold War”, in this movie takes viewers behind Robert Orlando skillfully weaves a the scenes of a partnership that sophisticated tapestry of historians’ accounts, personal biographies of changed the world. the two leaders, memories of collabRobert Orlando is an award-winning orators and friends, and original film writer and filmmaker. The founder of footage to create a powerful and Nexus Media, he has been involved persuasive vision. in the production, development, or release of more than a dozen film After the screening, the audience and documentary projects, and was was excited to learn about a thus-far present for the screening and for a underappreciated perspective on the Q&A session with the audience af- end of the Cold War, while Mr. Orterwards. lando openly discussed his approach of using documentary eviPart documentary, part graphic thrilldence to raise deeper spiritual queser, the movie tells the story of presitions about real world events. dent Reagan and pope John Paul II, an unlikely pair who combine deep By Markus Thiel & Christine I. Caly-Sanchez
Cast of Characters To solve the mystery, Orlando interrogates a crack team of world-renowned scholars, politicians, historians and journalists includingPaul Kengor, Douglas Brinkley, Richard Allen, John O’Sullivan, Craig Shirley, Steve Kotkin, George Weigel, Bishop Robert Barron, Anne Applebaum, Monika Jablonska, Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, HW Brands and Cardinal Timothy Dolan
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