The Film "Pope Joan" is Historical Fiction, but Highlights Real World Issues

In Afghanistan two teenage sisters walking on the side of a road have acid thrown in their faces for trying to attend a school in 2008. In 2010 Iranian women who dare to seek an equal opportunity for education, or anything else, may be charged with conspiracy and imprisoned. In Morocco, any woman not in the presence of a man outside of her home is treated like a prostitute, and may be killed.

This kind of violence against women seeking access to knowledge and education has been happening for centuries. The 2009 film "Pope Joan" tells one of those stories from the 9th Century - from over a thousand years ago. But the violence against women today is escalating because more women refuse to blindly follow the old rules of the past. Those rules today are the same ones that existed over a thousand years ago.

It is true that knowledge is power. But women seek knowledge for the power to improve their own health and welfare and that of their children, not to take over the world. Sadly, that is the one truth ancient beliefs cannot or will not hear nor understand. The legend of Pope Joan is the story of one woman's quest for knowledge.

The story of Pope Joan, the only woman believed to have reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church, is the story of a woman who goes to extraordinary lengths to improve her lot in life. Joan is born in the 9th Century in a small village in an area now known as Germany. She is intellectually gifted and at an early age sets out on her own in her quest for an education. With no other avenue available to her, she disguises herself as a man in order to learn and become educated.

That concept in itself is not new; however, Joan chose to hide her identity as a man within the clergy. Due to her extreme intellect and pleasant manner, she moved quickly up the ranks within the Catholic Church. Once in Rome, (a move it is rumored she was convinced to make by her lover), she reached the apex as Pope. Obviously once revealed through a tragic twist of circumstance, her gender was a scandal of epic proportions. Therefore, it is believed that Joan's story was somewhat obscured, but distinctly documented in history.

Author Donna Woolfolk Cross stumbled across a reference to the legend of Pope Joan in The New Catholic Encyclopedia while waiting in the library for her daughter to complete a riding lesson. Woolfolk Cross felt as if she were struck by a bolt of lightning. While the legend of Pope Joan is known fairly well in Europe, it is not in the United States. Woolfolk Cross knew she was destined to tell the story.

After seven years of intensive historical research, supported by the additional writings of Papal Librarians, Woolfolk Cross authored the historical fiction book, "Pope Joan: A Novel". It stayed on the Best Seller list overseas for three years and has subsequently been translated into 37 different languages. The film "Pope Joan" was made by Constantin ("Name of the Rose") in Germany (but filmed in English) and will be a Featured Presentation at the Moondance Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado On September 25th, 2010.

In addition, Woolfolk Cross, a veteran of both the advertising and literary worlds (and a consultant for the film), will hold a workshop about the process of "turning a book into a film" during the Moondance Film Festival. Woolfolk Cross has been the guest speaker at many book club gatherings around the world. She was also interviewed by Diane Sawyer on ABC News Primetime during a piece done at the Vatican in Rome by Primetime, "Looking for Pope Joan".

The film "Pope Joan" premiered in Europe in the fall of 2009 where it held the #1 spot at the at the Box Office (even over Michael Jackson's "This Is It"). Rights in the United States are being handled by Summit Entertainment. The film "Pope Joan" stars German actress Johanna Wokalek as Joan, Australian actor David Wenham (Lord of the Rings) as Gerold and American actor John Goodman as Pope Sergius.

As with "The Davinci Code" and "Angels and Demons", "Pope Joan" has been condemned by the Vatican in Italy, although it continues to stay in the top ten at the box office there. It has also been condemned in the Middle East and Pakistan, where women continue the fight for their rights. The film will appear at several festivals in the United States.

More information about Donna Woolfolk Cross, the book and the film "Pope Joan" can be found at www.popejoan.com along with a viewable trailer for the film and other film festivals it will visit.

Some information for this piece was taken from an interview conducted with Donna Woolfolk Cross by this writer on August 12.