Der Papst ist kein Jeansboy

Der Papst ist kein Jeansboy

2011 · 77 min · ★ 4.4 · Documentary

The actor, columnist, author, moderator, the failed pastoral assistant, the self-confessed gay sadomasochist, the total work of art Hermes Phettberg, who has always been relentlessly open about his life, his suffering in himself and the world, gives insight into his current existence. Despite his decline, Phettberg has remained a charismatic, unique "pyre" (as he calls himself) who documents his slowly fading life daily on the Internet and in his weekly column in the Viennese city magazine "Falter" and struggles to survive as Austria's best-known welfare recipient. Sobo Swobodnik shows this daily struggle of a one-time star who became a patronized outsider - with three strokes, a heart attack, extreme bladder weakness and an irrepressible will to go on living.

Directed by Sobo Swobodnik · Written by Sobo Swobodnik

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Make it a double feature

2h 57m together

Der Papst ist kein Jeansboy

The Loneliness of the Big City Dwellers

Both from Sobo Swobodnik.

More from Sobo SwobodnikSee all →

The Loneliness of the Big City Dwellers

The Loneliness of the Big City Dwellers · 2024

The Loneliness of the Big City Dwellers

MovieDocumentary

Karate, a forty-year-old woman without a relationship, contacts ten different women via dating apps from Tinder, OkCupid or Badoo and meets some of them to escape the desert of loneliness in this big city during post-pandemic times of crisis and learns a lot about life, complex relationship structures, loneliness and herself during these very different encounters.

Unplugged: Leben Guaia Guaia

Unplugged: Leben Guaia Guaia · 2012

Unplugged: Leben Guaia Guaia

MovieDocumentary

Elias Gottstein and Carl Luis Zielke have no fixed abode, no education, no bank account, no securities. Instead, they are living their dream of freedom: radical, anarchic, unplugged! They are young, they are intelligent, they are hungry: for life, for music, for a future far removed from the bourgeois imaginary world. They also have an irrepressible optimism that they can shape this life themselves with and through their music. As Guaia Guaia, they travel from city to city on self-built bicycles, attracting fans and police officers with loud, illegal concerts.

Sexarbeiterin

Sexarbeiterin · 2016

MovieDocumentary

Documentary on the daily life of a sexual masseuse in Berlin.

Ramba Zamba

Ramba Zamba · 2023

MovieDocumentary

Ramba Zamba: a theater with handicapped and non-handicapped people/actresses and actors, which has been living and working on inclusive integrative togetherness impressively every day for thirty years now. The film accompanies the mentally and physically impaired actresses and actors for six months through the theatrical production of the play GOLEM, from the beginning of rehearsals to the premiere. In doing so, the film is also partly influenced by the portrayed persons themselves, quasi inclusively co-determined, by them capturing their own view and perception, their view of reality itself on film.

Der Konzertdealer

Der Konzertdealer · 2017

Der Konzertdealer

MovieDocumentary

Kraftwerk, Björk, Rammstein or Robbie Williams on tour are not just concerts, but pop operas, the most spectacular stage events of our time. Tens of thousands make the pilgrimage to stadiums and halls to be there. But nobody knows the man in the background. Scumeck Sabottka has been a concert promoter for over 30 years. Constantly traveling, constantly negotiating, always on the lookout for the next big thing. An ex-punk from the Ruhr area who started out as a bus driver for Einstürzende Neubauten, worked his way up, came close to bankruptcy twice and then struck a deal with legendary promoters Fritz Rau and Marcel Avram.

Lebe schon lange hier

Lebe schon lange hier · 2019

Lebe schon lange hier

MovieDocumentary

Geschlechterkampf – Das Ende des Patriarchats

Geschlechterkampf – Das Ende des Patriarchats · 2023

Geschlechterkampf – Das Ende des Patriarchats

MovieDramaComedy

Marga is a forty-two-year-old actress who seems to have already passed the peak of her career. After starting her career in theater on the country's major stages (Volksbühne Berlin, Berliner Ensemble, Maxim Gorki Theater), it is becoming increasingly difficult for her to find work. Not only in theater, but also in film, it seems to be getting harder to get roles as she gets older and as a woman, especially a woman with a migrant background.

Silentium - Vom Leben im Kloster

Silentium - Vom Leben im Kloster · 2015

Silentium - Vom Leben im Kloster

MovieDocumentary

Bastard in Mind

Bastard in Mind · 2022

Bastard in Mind

MovieDocumentary

The diagnosis: an aneurysm in the brain. Then follow two nightmarish months during which we accompany the filmmaker. An essayistic audio-visual collage, in which Sobo Swobodnik shows us what it means to live with a potentially fatal condition.

Muddi - Zwölf Annäherungen an das Altern

Muddi - Zwölf Annäherungen an das Altern · 2025

Muddi - Zwölf Annäherungen an das Altern

MovieDocumentary

The director's mother is 90 years old—and is beginning to forget herself. Not only herself, but everything else as well. She has dementia. Only her faith and her tireless knitting of exclusively blue socks keep her alive. The director, whose relationship with his mother has been very tense throughout his life, approaches the dissolution of his mother's ego in this experimental and essayistic film with the support of Didier Eribon, Simone de Beauvoir, Norbert Elias, Jean Améry, and others. In addition to this very personal story, he also tells a universal story about the process of aging, about repression, but also about rebellion in dealing with and interacting with aging people.

6 Jahre, 7 Monate und 16 Tage - Die Morde des NSU

6 Jahre, 7 Monate und 16 Tage - Die Morde des NSU · 2017

6 Jahre, 7 Monate und 16 Tage - Die Morde des NSU

MovieDocumentary

More Like This

Sugarcane

Sugarcane · 2024

MovieDocumentary

An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school in Canada ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.

Le Samouraï

Le Samouraï · 1967

MovieCrimeThriller

After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

Bad Company

Bad Company · 2002

MovieActionAdventure

When a Harvard-educated CIA agent is killed during an operation, the secret agency recruits his twin brother.

Wilde

MovieDramaHistory

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

The Child

The Child · 2005

A poor young Belgian mother wants her petty thief of a boyfriend to be gainfully employed to raise their newborn child, but he has other ideas.

Watership Down

Watership Down · 1978

MovieAdventureAnimation

When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.

The 400 Blows

The 400 Blows · 1959

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

Dancer in the Dark

Dancer in the Dark · 2000

Dancer in the Dark

MovieDramaCrime

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her young son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life becomes increasingly difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.

Au Revoir les Enfants

Au Revoir les Enfants · 1987

Au Revoir les Enfants

Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.

Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc · 2025

Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

MovieAnimationAction

In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.

The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door · 2007

The Girl Next Door

MovieThrillerCrime

In a quiet suburban town in the summer of 1958, two recently orphaned sisters are placed in the care of their mentally unstable Aunt Ruth. But Ruth's depraved sense of discipline will soon lead to unspeakable acts of abuse and torture that involve her young sons, the neighborhood children, and one 12-year-old boy whose life will be changed forever.

Brother

Brother · 1997

MovieCrimeDrama

Danila goes to his successful brother, Victor, in Petersburg to start a new life. Unknown to Danila, Victor is a contract killer, but is in hiding after asking for too much money to assassinate a Chechen mob boss. To avoid exposure, Victor convinces Danila to kill the boss instead.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter