FOX Nation and famed director Martin Scorsese explore the lives of eight saints in the new docuseries Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints.
Scorsese narrates each episode, which tells a saint’s story through historical reenactments, followed by a segment with Scorsese engaging in a discussion with scholars about the saint.
“These are incredible stories of men and women who really are facing the most difficult test of all in humanity, which is faith,” says creator and executive producer Matti Leshem. “And in many cases, they’re willing to die for it. And I think that that is the thing that inspired us to use these particular stories, to tell the story of what’s facing all of us right now — whether you’re a believer or an atheist, everyone has to believe in something. And I think what’s incredible about the stories of the saints is that it kind of goes to the notion that the human spirit has an incredible capacity for conviction and for transcendence and for sacrifice in the service of something larger than itself.”
Leshem, known for producing HBO’s The Survivor and executive producing The Commandant’s Shadow, thought of a series about the saints several years ago and had the lofty goal of working with Scorsese on the project. Leshem got his chance when, with very short notice, he was offered 30 minutes to meet with Scorsese and pitch his idea. Their discussion was so engrossing, it blew up Scorsese’s schedule.
“Two and a half hours later, we were still talking about the saints,” Leshem says. “And what I realized was that his knowledge of the saints was so deep, and here’s a Jewish guy and a Catholic guy approaching the story from completely different perspectives and yet finding a way to talk about it that was similar.”
Leshem and Scorsese stayed in touch on The Saints over the following years, finally bringing the project to fruition with FOX News Media.
“I think we found this really unusual format, a really interesting way to tell these stories,” Leshem says. “It’s a little bit different than the docudramas you’re used to. It’s not kind of like the regular talking heads docudrama. It’s got a different way of telling the story. And that is really a testament to Marty’s genius. Just working with him has been the transformative experience of my life.”
The first four episodes premiere on the FOX Nation streaming service in November and December, with the remaining four episodes — covering Francis of Assisi, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene and Moses the Black — airing in Spring 2025.
Here’s a preview of the first four episodes:
Joan of Arc (Sunday, November 17) The story of how a devout 17-year-old daughter of farmers, who, after hearing voices from saints, became a fiery military leader who fought to drive the English out of France. After being captured in 1430 and turned over to the English, she was accused of heresy and witchcraft, and burned at the stake. She was finally canonized in 1920. Today, she is the patron saint of soldiers.
John the Baptist (Sunday, November 24) “The voice crying out in the wilderness” broke from Jewish tradition and proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, baptized new followers and urged them to repent. He baptized Jesus, and recognized that He is the fulfillment of the prophecy. He caught the ire of Princess Salome, who used her influence with ruler Herod Antipas to have John’s head delivered to her on a platter.
Sebastian (Sunday, December 1) Near the end of the Roman Empire, soldier Sebastian goes against Emperor Diocletian’s order that all Christians must convert to paganism or be put to death. Sebastian works in secret to protect the early Christians and spread the faith. He is captured and shot with arrows, but he survives. Once recovered, he confronts Diocletian again and is beaten to death.
Maximilian Kolbe (Sunday, December 8) Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan monk, may have expressed the anti-Semitism that was popular in the early 20th century, but his treatment of Jews did not follow that hateful ideology. In 1941, he was arrested for harboring 3,000 people — half of them Jews — in his monastery to shield them from the Nazis. Kolbe was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where an act of self-sacrifice for a Jewish prisoner led to Kolbe being tortured and starved to death. He was canonized in 1982, and is the patron saint of journalists, prisoners, drug addicts and amateur radio operators.
