Mthere are only a few hours until the wedding ceremony Oscars 2024 and the wait to know if I Captain by Matteo Garrone will win in the Best International Film category. For boomers a very distant possibility – the premium a appears to be discounted The area of interest by Jonathan Glazer. However, Oscar night also gave away unexpected surprises, therefore it is reasonable to dream that the director can grab the statuette. Furthermore, Italy has won more “foreign” Oscars than anyone else (14), the last one in 2014 a Paolo Sorrentino For The great beauty.
I Captainthe plot of the film nominated for the 2024 Oscars
Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) they are two teenage Senegalese cousins who they leave Dakar to reach Italy with the dream of making it in rap. The boys cross Mali with a false passport and, despite a policeman discovering the scam, they avoid prison and are released in exchange for money.
Arriving in Niger, they face the desert up to the borders of Libyawhere however they are arrested and taken to separate detention centres. Seydou is tortured but manages to get out of prison, as another inmate urges him to offer himself as a bricklayer like he did. After expertly carrying out some construction work, the two come released and his travel is paid for Tripoli.
In the Libyan capital, Seydou finds Moussa again, with which he resumes his journey towards Europe. In Tripoli they turn to the fixer Ahmed (Hichem Yacoubi) who organizes the crossings in the Mediterranean Sea. But, not having enough money, they are offered only one option: Seydou will have to drive the boat. Instructed by Ahmed on how to steer the vehicle, Seydou manages to lead all passengers safe and sound in Sicily.
The birth of the film, the cast and the revelation Seydou Sarr
As he stated Garrone at the press conference at the Venice Film Festival – where the film was in competition and won the Silver Lion for Best Director –, I Captain was born from the idea of tell the epic journey of two young migrants Senegalese crossing Africa, with all its dangers. For chase a dream called Europe.
Written together with the screenwriters Massimo Gaudioso, Andrea Tagliaferri and Massimo Ceccherini, the Roman director was inspired by true stories by Kouassi Pli Adama Mamadou, Arnaud Zohin, Amara Fofana, Brhane Tareke and Siaka Doumbia. Boys who have truly completed the journey of the two protagonist cousins of the film.
A scene from “Io Capitano” by Matteo Garrone. (Photo by Greta De Lazzaris)
Garrone, also in Venice, declared «To make the film we started from the true testimonies of those who lived this contemporary odyssey and we decided to put the camera from their point of view. A sort of reverse shot compared to the images we are used to seeing from our own western anglein an attempt to finally giving voice to those who usually don’t have one».
To give the film thatauthenticity that he needed, Garrone has done a lot of casting in Africa. Until he was struck by two very young boys from Dakar: Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall. The former, 17 years old at the start of filming, had never acted in his life while Moustapha, 18 years old, had done some theater at school. The director not only chooses them without hesitation but takes them with him to Italy, hosting them at his mother’s house in Fregene.
The result? An amazing performance from both of them with Seydou winning the legendary Marcello Mastroianni Award which is awarded to the best emerging actor or actress. Big football fanSeydou still dreams of a career on the playing fields but he also wants to continue making films. The only certainty: living in Italy, as you stated in an interview with Vogue. Then adding that today «Matteo is like a father to me and his motherbetween pasta with meat sauce and fried calamari, he’s even teaching me Italian».
Seydou Sarr and Matteo Garrone at the Venice Film Festival holding the awards awarded to them for “Io Capitano”. (Getty Images)
The other Oscar candidates for Best International Film and the winner’s prediction
Despite the undoubted quality of Garrone’s film, the Roman director will have to clash with gods very fierce “rivals”.. One for all the big favorite The area of interest by Jonathan Glazera film of great visionary power that tells stories the daily life of an Auschwitz commandant and his family. In a luxurious house that borders the concentration camp wall.
Other very strong competitor is the “Japanese” film by Wim Wenders Perfect Days. That is, another story of everyday life but this time of a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. A poetic and ethereal film that had a success in Italy great success with the public, recording over 5 million euros. If Glazer doesn’t win, Wenders could prevail at the expense of our Garrone.
The other two candidates of the five are less strong titles compared to Glazer and Wenders. The first is Spanish The snow societya film that tells the true story of plane crash in the Andes in 1972. A catastrophe in which 30 people lost their lives while 15 people, even resorting to cannibalism, managed to survive for 72 days in the frost of the mountains of South America. The last film to compete for the Oscar is German The teachers’ loungethe story of a young teacher struggling with an overly rigid school system.
For I Captain so it won’t be easy snatch the Oscar but for Garrone, as he declared immediately at theHANDLE last January after the news of the nomination, it is already «a great satisfaction and we are happy that the adventure continues. In the hope that the film, and Seydou’s story, will be seen by an ever-increasing number of spectators all over the world”.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED