Donovan Talks Celebrating His Soundtrack for Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon’ With Italy’s President and Franciscan Monks (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent In the early 1970s, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan wrote and recorded songs for the English version of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli’s film “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” about the early years of St.
Francis of Assisi, that evoked the “flower power” hippie movement and developed a cult following. Half a century later, Donovan traveled to Italy last week to watch a freshly restored version of the film in two celebratory events.
The first was an intimate private screening held in Rome’s Quirinale Palace for Italian President Sergio Mattarella and a select group of officials, and the next was in Florence, the late Zeffirelli’s birthplace, where the Zeffirelli Foundation held a free screening open to the public attended by a copious contingent of Franciscan monks.
Donovan, who was born in Glasgow, emerged on the U.K. folk scene in 1965. He broke out the following year with the album “Sunshine Superman,” which topped the Billboard chart in the U.S.
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