Pope Benedikt XVI Production Date: 2008 Duration: 52 Copyright : CRTN Language: English, Russian, German Executive Producer: Mark Riedemann Director: Nick Goryachkin For the first time ever, on the birthday of Pope Benedict XVI on April 16th 2008, the Russian state television Vesti broadcast a 52 minute documen-tary film about the life of Pope Benedict XVI including a closing speech to the Russian people by Pope Benedict XVI. The film is historic in that it is the first film about a Catholic pope broadcast on Russian TV, the first film about a Catholic pope made in close cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Pa-triachate (the broadcast in Russia was introduced by a Russian Orthodox hierarch) and finally the first film in which a Catholic pope directly expresses his affection for the Russian people. The film was produced in Saint Peters-burg by Blagovest Media in cooperation with CRTN. The project was carried out in close collaboration with the Moscow Patriarchate and likewise with the Apostolic Nuncio in Moscow, Archbishop Antonio Mennini. The documentary is a profile of the life and times of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. The film features interviews among those who accom-panied him throughout his life including his elder brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger who, as he himself acknowledges, rarely gives interviews but agreed to make an exception for the Russian film crew.