Nominated — Academy Award, Best International Feature
Winner — Silver Lion, Venice Film Festival
Winner — Marcello Mastroianni Award, Venice Film Festival
“A grand, honestly felt emotional sweep. . . Garrone’s most robust, purely satisfying filmmaking since his international breakthrough with Gomorrah 15 years ago.” — Variety
“Critic’s Pick. Matteo Garrone’s Stunning Film Puts a Human Face on the Migrant Crisis” — IndieWire
Io Capitano, directed by acclaimed auteur Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah, Dogman), will have his U.S. theatrical premiere on February 23. In this acclaimed film which won top directing and acting prizes at the Venice Film Festival, writer-director Garrone presents a “reverse shot” of the immigration experience while unfurling an epic, cinematographically magnificent odyssey from West Africa to Italy. The story is told through the mind’s eye and experiences of two Senegalese teenagers living in Dakar who yearn for a brighter future in Europe. Yet between their dreams and reality lies a treacherous journey through a labyrinth of checkpoints, the scorched Saharan desert, a fetid North African prison and the vast waters of the Mediterranean where thousands have died packed inside vessels barely fit for passage.
The film will open in Los Angeles at the Landmark Theaters Sunset, Landmark Theatres Pasadena, and Laemmle’s Town Center 5.
Winner of the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at the 80th Venice International Film Festival — for newcomer Seydou Sarr, making his feature-film debut — Io Capitano is nominated for the best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Capturing the contemporary immigrant experience from the perspective of people making the crossing through Africa into Europe, Io Capitano was cast largely with non-professional actors, including Sarr and Moustapha Fall, building on the great tradition of Italian neorealism. Io Capitano was filmed on location in Senegal, Morocco, and the waters off Marsala, Italy.
Io Capitano — Written and Directed by Matteo Garrone. Produced by Matteo Garrone, Paolo Del Brocco for Rai Cinema. Edited by Marco Spoletini. Written by Massimo Ceccherini, Massimo Gaudioso, Andrea Tagliaferri. Cinematography by Paolo Carnera. Music by Andrea Farri. With Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall. Languages: Wolof, French; Countries of Origin: Italy, Belgium, France. 2023. Runtime: 121 minutes. A Cohen Media Group release.
