Filipino cardinal is contender for pope in Oscars challenger 'Conclave'

SENTOSA, Singapore — Edward Berger's "Conclave" starring Ralph Fiennes is slowly rising as a frontrunner for the 2025 Academy Awards.

The film is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Robert Harris, adapted for the screen by Oscar nominee Peter Straughan and is Berger's follow-up to his Oscar-winning film "All Quiet on the Western Front."

Fiennes portrays Thomas Lawrence, a cardinal tasked with organzing the election for the next pope though he learns of a secret from the deceased former Holy Father which affects the prime contenders to be his successor.

These include the late pope's liberal Secretary of State Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), the Camerlengo Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), Cardinal Major Penitentiary Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), and the Patriarch of Venice Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto).

A surprise arrival to the College of Cardinals is the Filipino Archbishop of Baghdad Vincent Benítez, played in the movie by Mexican actor Carlos Diehz, whom the late pope had created cardinal "in pectore" or in secret.

Critics are already seeing "Conclave" as a potential contender for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, Fiennes for Best Actor, Berger for Best Director, Tucci and Lithgow for Best Supporting Actor, and Isabella Rossellini for Best Supporting Actress.

"Conclave" premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival last August and will be released commercially around the world beginning October 25.

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