“The New Manna” is a film about Eucharistic miracles inspired by the research of Carlo Acutis, a young man who will soon be canonized and who had a great love for the Eucharist.
The movie, produced by Catholic filmmakers in Los Angeles, will be released soon. It is made in the Hollywood production format and not a documentary.
It tells the journey of a man who feels “challenged” by these Eucharistic miracles and seeks to deny them, says actor Robert Renzi, 42, who plays Jesus.
“On that journey of disproving them, his heart starts to shift, and we are taken back into biblical times, and we see the biblical journey of Christ pointed out in real-time towards the Eucharist," he explains.
“I had the honor and the opportunity to play Christ in this film and it was an incredible journey," Renzi reports. “I thought I was a pretty devout Catholic beforehand, and I can tell you after this role I’ll never be the same."
The actor says that working in the film “brought me into an intimacy with Christ that I didn’t experience before."
In addition to the recorded scenes that illustrate moments from the life of Christ, the production also features well-known Catholics, including Scott Hahn, Cardinal Francis Arinze, Father Donald Calloway, and medical specialists.
Carlo Acutis and Eucharistic Miracles
Renzi reveals the inspiration behind the film and how future Saint Carlo Acutis and his mother came into the story.
“Our producer, Ray, had a podcast called ‘The Joy of Faith,’ and he did a video on Carlos Acutis and the miracles he found and put on his website, and that blew up. It went viral and that got noticed by our director."
Both did not know each other then, but the director expressed his desire to get out of the Hollywood scene and make a Catholic film. Hence, the idea of bringing together the Eucharistic miracles discovered by Carlo and “tell an impactful cinematic adventure story.”
Antonia Acutis, Carlo's mother, also ended up joining the production and declaring her support for the initiative.
“She’s fully backing us and she’s been such a strong advocate of the film, so we’ll have a little wink to him as well."
“I didn’t know," Renzi commented, “that his family wasn’t practicing, and he actually had faith in his heart. It was very special. His mother said he was four years old and he understood the Eucharist.
"God blessed him with a unique gift to know what the Eucharist [is] and it was through his faith that his family came back to the faith. His mother and father weren’t practicing and he even converted his butler who was a Hindu at the time. So for me, that was tremendous to hear that part of his journey."
Antonia and the Choice of Jesus
Renzi reveals that he was in the production of the film from the beginning, but one day, a message from the director changed everything.
“As we’re getting ready to cast Jesus, it was important for [the director] that our Jesus was a practicing Catholic. For all the other apostles and characters it was okay if they weren’t as long as they were talented and they respected the material. But he needed Jesus to be Catholic."
After a long process, the choice was between Renzi and another actor.
“So one day I get a text message from our director and he goes, ‘Hey, send me a selfie right now. I need it. So I send him a selfie real quick, I text it to him, he takes that selfie of me and he takes a headshot of the other actor.”
“He sends both of them to Carlo Acutis’ mother and he goes ‘Who do you think?’ She picked me, and I couldn’t believe it. She looked at me and saw something and she said ‘That’s your Jesus.’ After that he cast me as Christ, so it’s a beautiful story and pretty unbelievable."
The movie is financed by crowdfunding and is reaching the final stage of filming so that post-production can begin.
To collaborate with the project, you can donate on "The New Manna" website.