so imagine the good timing of the award winning filmmaker wim wenders whose latest film about the poet has just been released with unprecedented access to the holy father, wenders has made such critically acclaimed films as "paris, texas" and "wings of desire." and now "pope francis: a man of his word." i spoke to him just after the film debuted at the cannes film festival. wim wenders, welcome to the program. >> thank you for having me, christiane. >> it's a great pleasure, and this documentary, this film that you've done has got great reviews in cannes, where you debuted it. but the real question is -- how do you get such access to a pope? i mean, we can't for love nor money. >> yep. i wonder myself now how that can possibly have happened. you see, it was not in my life's plan. one day i got a letter from the vatican. would you be inclined to talk with us about the film involving the pope? and that was amazing. almost too good to be true. i am truly admiring of his work and i think he's one of the great leaders of our world today. >> what specifically about him do you love the most?

wim wenders' eclectic body of work includes "buena vista social club," an infectious documentary aboutntasy feature about angels keeping watch over berlin, wenders' longtime home. a top vatican official, who just happened to be a movie buff, had the idea of commissioning wenders to make his next film with the sitting pope. >> wim wenders: i thought it was more intimidating than flattering. >> wertheim: you did? >> wenders: and you have carte blanche. >> wertheim: carte blanche? >> wenders: carte blanche. and you can even write the concept yourself with the pope, because i'm not interested in a biography of the man. he's too interesting for that. i really want the film to be about what he stands for, and that, he can only represent himself. so, i really want to make a film with him. i realize it was going to be one of a kind. but also, sleepless nights. >> wertheim: from those first plumes of smoke in 2013, signifiying francis' papacy, vatican cameras began chronicling the pope's every move. >> pope francis ( translated ): good evening! >> wertheim: wenders was granted access not just t

so not the in-house pr. >> so does the pope like wim wenders work? ten this assignment and it was carte blanche. so ask anything. make this film however you want p we wenders said at first it was flattering. then said, wait, i need some perimeters. it was intimidating. >> what does the pope want to say? what does the vatican want him to say? >> i think that's the point. the vatican -- no talking points. this was ask away -- >> the gospel? >> i think that's where he departed. this was hours and hours. wenders asked about everything. some of this was orthodoxy and theology. a lot was climate change and technology. the message was put your phones down and play with your kids. this pope is a contemporary leader. this is much different from his predecessors. >> he's a different kind of guy. how do you think it plays -- that he plays with the catholic church? >> yes, it's interesting. he has this immense popularity amongst the masses. there also is a bit of friction. some of this is he's departing from the norms and traditions of the job. again, this is a v

. >> reporter: meeting the pope, wim wenders says, was a life-changing experience. >> he has a lot of he came in the room, he greeted everybody by a handshake, by looking in their eyes and sharing a few words, he cares for people. >> reporter: yet, his leadership has seen outrage over child abuse in the catholic church. >> when we brought up the subject of child abuse, he got so angry. he got so angry. and you really believe that he would have changed so much more. but he can't just all on his own change all these things. >> reporter: he has been criticized for not doing enough in relation to the sex abuse scandal, particularly in countries like chile, for example. >> on the other hand, he's been attacking so many things at the same time, he can't do it all. i think he wishes he was 20 years younger. >> reporter: so he could do more. last month, pope francis admitted grave mistakes handling the scandal. his humility interwoven with the film. and his famous sense of humor. >> i won't speak about mothers-in-law. >> reporter: did he have good jokes he shared off-camera? >> we did laugh q