Francesca Scorsese makes TV directing debut on father’s series

Francesca Scorsese Makes Television Directing Debut With Saints Episode on Millennial Saint

Francesca Scorsese stepped behind the camera for the first time in television Sunday, directing the season finale of “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints” for Fox Nation. The episode, which premiered December 7, chronicles the life of Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager recently canonized as the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.indiewire

The 25-year-old filmmaker’s directorial debut marks her first formal collaboration on a series with her father, the Oscar-winning director who serves as host, narrator, and executive producer of the docudrama. The project represents a natural evolution from their viral TikTok videos, which have amassed more than 413,000 followers and helped promote Martin Scorsese’s films to younger audiences.americamagazine

A Modern Saint for the Digital Age

Carlo Acutis died from leukemia in 2006 at age 15, but not before using his computer skills to document Eucharistic miracles and spread Catholic teachings online. Pope Leo XIV canonized him September 7 alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, making Acutis the first person born in the 1990s to achieve sainthood.foxnews

Francesca Scorsese faced a delicate ethical decision while filming in Assisi, Italy, where Acutis’s preserved body is displayed in a glass tomb. “It’s a young boy. They placed a silicone mask over him, and he appears perfectly preserved,” she told Variety. After wrestling with the decision, she chose not to film the body directly, instead incorporating minimal stock footage to maintain the sanctity of the space.variety

The director meticulously prepared for the project, storyboarding every shot following her father’s advice. Despite constraints—including only 30 minutes to film inside the Basilica Santa Chiara before being “rushed out by disgruntled nuns”—the episode achieved visual sophistication through natural light and careful framing.indiewire

From TikTok to Television

Francesca Scorsese, who graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2023 and appeared in Luca Guadagnino’s HBO series “We Are Who We Are,” has directed three short films before taking on this project. She acknowledged receiving the opportunity due to her father’s involvement as executive producer but expressed determination to prove herself.variety

Martin Scorsese selected his daughter for the Carlo Acutis episode because the saint’s story resonated with her generation. “This isn’t a figure wandering in robes in the desert. This is a kid on a computer, attending school, enjoying time with friends, and even watching ‘South Park,’ while simultaneously choosing to lead a religious life,” he explained.indiewire

The second season of “The Saints” premiered November 16 with four episodes released weekly. Four additional episodes focusing on other saints will air around Easter 2026.variety