Io Capitano by Matteo Garrone is the film designated by Italy for the international Oscar race.
The selection commission decided this by choosing the work among 11 other films indicated, including The Chimera by Alice Rohrwacher and Kidnapped by Marco Bellocchio.
The choice was driven by the Silver Lion won by Garrone for directing in Venice, by the emotional wave that is making the film do very well in theaters and by the great relevance of the topic covered, the emigration of Africans to Europe.
Garrone, a generous person - as he demonstrated on the stage of the Venice final with his young protagonists Seydou and Moussa and leaving the floor to Mamadou, a migrant who survived the crossing - is accompanying this poetic and tragic work of his on a tour of the theatres.
«We are very proud to be able to represent Italy at the Academy Awards with Io Capitano and we hope that Seydou's journey can also touch the hearts of the American public», says the director of Gomorrah and Pinocchio, speaking in the plural. The next step is to enter the shortlist which will include the fifteen best international films selected by the Academy and which will be announced on 21 December 2023.
The announcement of the nominations (the five films nominated to compete for the award) is scheduled for January 23, 2024, while the Oscar award ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024.
The film talks about the contemporary Odyssey of two young people from Senegal who decide to leave for Europe, crossing the stages of the desert, of the prisons of the Libyan torturers, of the journey across the Mediterranean sea as if in a way of the cross, until arriving at a sort of Promised Land. A film that Garrone wanted to dedicate to all those who didn't make it during the journey to Europe, underlining however how it is a yearning for freedom, for free movement that moves people at every latitude, especially young people, looking for a future better and different.
(Unioneonline/L)