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Seydou (Seydou Sarr) with Moussa (Moustapha Fall) crossing the desert Io Capitano, streaming now on Mubi

As Agniezska Holland's docureal exploration of the migrant crisis, Green Border, hits cinemas (and I highly recommend you catch that if you can), Matteo Garrone's more fairy-tale flavoured examination of the situation has landed on the streaming service. His focus is a pair of cousins, Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall), who are convinced they will find their own happily ever after in Europe. Their hopefulness is palpable as they leave Senegal with their savings but soon their dreams slam up against a reality of exploitation and violence. Garrone's film may initially appear a more gentle sort than Holland's but he doesn't shy away from the brutality the boys face - all the more hard hitting in the face of the open-hearted performances from Sarr and Fall. Like every fairy tale,...

Challengers

Smart, seductive and bristling with sexual tension, this is Luca Guadagnino’s most purely pleasurable film to date. As dynamic as the many tennis matches it depicts, the love-triangle drama pits the rivalry on the court of two former BFFs against their competing desire for a self-possessed woman whose hunger to win is not diminished by an injury that cuts short her own career. It helps that the chemistry of stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist is off the charts. — David Rooney

La Chimera

Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s invigoratingly strange and lyrical film revolves around a fascinating pocket community: the tombaroli, illegal grave-robbers who dig up Etruscan relics and make their money selling those antiquities to fences, who in turn sell them to museums and collectors for vastly larger sums. Josh O’Connor is superb in the central role of a haunted Englishman whom the tombaroli regard as a kind of mystic,...

The Eternal City’s glitterati celebrated Sofia Coppola on Wednesday at an American Academy in Rome gala in the 17th century Villa Aurelia on Janiculum Hill.

The Oscar-winning director of “Lost in Translation,” “Marie Antoinette,” “Bling Ring” and, most recently, “Priscilla” was honored with a McKim Medal that “marks the profound relationship between Italy and the United States and recognizes the works of individuals who have contributed to the intense artistic and humanistic dialogue between the two nations,” as a statement put it.

Coppola’s ties to Rome comprise directing a 2016 production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata at the Italian capital’s Teatro dell’Opera featuring costumes by Valentino and the fact that “Priscilla” — which got a seven-minute standing ovation at its 2023 Venice Film Festival premiere — is produced by Rome-based producer Lorenzo Mieli.

Mieli was in attendance along with a mix of prominent film, fashion, arts, academia and business...

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated drama Io Capitano triumphed in Italy’s David di Donatello film awards on Friday evening, winning best film and best director.

The film about the trials and tribulations of two Senegalese teenagers as they try to make it to Europe via the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea, also won best producer for companies Archimede, Rai cinema, Pathé and Tarantula as well as best sound, special effects, cinematography and editing.

Io Capitano premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, where it won best director for Garrone and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor for Seydou Sarr.

The movie went on to enjoy a buzzy awards season, securing a Golden Globe nomination for best non-English language film and an Academy Award nomination for best international film.

“This film tells the stories of those who are not listened to,” said Garrone, on receiving the best director award.

This is a stacked weekend for movies that could get awards attention but probably won’t, both in theaters and on digital platforms. First up is a lively ode to one of cinema’s musical masters.

The contender to watch this week: “Ennio”

Giuseppe Tornatore‘s documentary about influential composer Ennio Morricone has been a long time coming, and not only because Morricone’s career dates back to 1946. “Ennio” premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2021 and was released in Italy in 2022. But don’t take its delayed domestic debut as a bad omen: The movie is a spellbinding tribute to the two-time Oscar winner, who wrote the scores for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Days of Heaven,” “The Untouchables,” “The Hateful Eight,” and Tornatore’s own “Cinema Paradiso.” The talking heads include Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Quincy Jones, and Bruce Springsteen. Following a theatrical run in February,...

At the start of Io Capitano, Senegalese teenagers Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) are told by a more experienced adult named Sisko that their dreams of going to Europe are not as foolproof as they think. Sisko tells the pair that traveling to Europe is deeply dangerous and, even when one arrives there, poverty and arduous hardships still exist. "It's not like it is on television," Sisko somberly remarks. The beckoning siren call of new opportunities and financial independence, however, leads Seydou and Moussa to take the risk. They’re leaving home behind for new terrain.

Two teenage boys star in Matteo Garrone’s passionate exposé of how greed, trauma and corruption drive the modern-day slave trade in would-be migrants

Matteo Garrone’s new film is part adventure story, part slavery drama; the slavery which did not in fact vanish with the end of the American civil war, but thrives in the globalised present day without needing to shapeshift too much, driven by the age-old forces of geopolitics and the market.

Seydou and Moussa, played by nonprofessional acting newcomers Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall, are 16-year-old cousins in Dakar, Senegal, dreaming of escape to the fabled land of the EU as refugees, where they expect to go viral and make a fortune as music stars like the people they’re watching on TikTok. For years they have been writing songs and secretly working on building sites while pretending to go to football practice, amassing cash savings...

The migrant dream slips slowly into a nightmare Matteo Garrone’s drama, which takes us on a Continent-crossing odyssey. Although sometimes the tone veers widely from one extreme to another, this is nevertheless a compelling addition to a burgeoning library of dramas concerning the migrant/refugee experience, including Brandt Anderson’s The Strangers Case and Agnieszka Holland’s searing Green Border, in the past 12 months alone.

It begins full of the hopefulness of cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) as they prepare to leave Senegal for what they firmly believe will be a better life in Europe. Shot with colour and verve by cinematographer Paolo Carnera the optimism of the boys is contagious, even as warnings from Seydou’s mother (Khady Sy) will come to echo through the rest of the film. The mood is, initially, that of a road trip - which, of course, to the boys it is.

The countdown is in its final days. No, we’re not talking about the arrival of Spring, but rather Hollywood’s biggest night, the Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday. So, it’s a big surprise, and a big aid to those vieing in several offices’ “Oscar pools”, that a nominee is getting a wider release this Friday. The category in question is Best International Feature Film, and this “pulls a hat trick’ as it’s co-production of Italy, France, and Belgium. Fitting, as the subject matter affects those and many countries, even ours, the US, even factoring into the big political campaigns. And somehow this film is a personal story at the center of the debate with its focus on a young man, still a teenager, who assumes the title Io Capitano.

That lad is a Senegalese sixteen-year-old Seydou (Seydou Sarr) who spends his days with Bff/cousin Moussa (Moustapha Fall...

The Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, the songwriter and perennial Oscar bridesmaid Diane Warren and Matteo Garrone, the director of this year’s best international feature Oscar-nominated Italian film Io Capitano, will all be honored on Sunday night during the opening ceremony of the 19th Los Angeles, Italia Film, Fashion and Art Festival at Hollywood’s Tcl Chinese Theatres, exactly one week before the 96th Academy Awards take place just down the street.

The festival, which is backed by Italy’s Ministry of Culture, will run through Saturday, March 9, and feature 112 film screenings (47 in movie theaters and 65 on the online platform eventive.org). This year’s edition will be hosted by one Italian screen legend, Franco Nero (as well as Italian actress/model Antonella Salvucci), and is dedicated to another, the late Marcello Mastroianni, whose centenary it coincides with, as well as the late Italian playwright Eduardo de Filippo.

Notable guests...

On February 23, 2024, Cohen Media Group released “Io Capitano” in the United States, Italy’s Oscar-nominated Best International Feature film directed by Matteo Garrone. The movie is a Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall), who leave Dakar to reach Europe. The 2024 Oscars contender has received widespread acclaim from critics, scoring a perfect 100% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The critics consensus reads, “A journey toward hope, ‘Io Capitano’ perambulates through the ravishing Saharan landscape encountering the most sublime and debased corners of humanity.” The castings, under the direction of Henri-Didier Njikam, took place on the African continent and features mostly newcomers. Read our full review round-up below.

See Watch our exciting interviews with 12 of the 20 Oscars 2024 acting nominees

Damon Wise of Deadline says, “Despite its technical elegance — and the film is near flawless in that respect — the...

Italy’s Best International Feature Oscar-nominated Io Capitano starts its U.S. run today in ten market on 21 screens, a bit wider than usual for Cohen Media Group but with Academy final voting just started, reviews are gold for the odyssey that director Matteo Garrone calls “a movie about human rights. About the rights of everybody to move, to look for a better life.”

That’s the quest of teenage cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall), who live in a close-knit village in Senegal. They’re not starving, not in danger. They are poor, restless, want a shot at something better in Europe and are oblivious to the horrors along the way.

Sarr won Best Emerging Actor at the Venice premiere of the film, which marks the onscreen debut for both stars and the first acting role for Sarr, who, Deadline’s review says, “carries the whole movie...

Winners were celebrated at the 15th Annual Aafca Awards on February 21, 2024. The ceremony took place at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, and honored outstanding achievement in film. Gold Derby associate editor Latasha Ford enjoyed an exclusive spot on the red carpet, interviewing many of the celebrities who were honored, presenting or enjoying the night’s festivities.

Watch each short video below by clicking that person’s name:

Colman Domingo, winner for Best Actor

Ava DuVernay, winner for Best Drama, Best Director

Cord Jefferson, winner for Best Comedy, Best Screenplay, Best Emerging Filmmaker

Andra Day

Erika Alexander (“American Fiction” star)

Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall

Kim Coles (actress)

Gil Robertson

Travon Free (Oscar-winning director)

Ron G (actor and comedian)

Predict the 2024 Oscar winners through March 10

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play...

Had first-time Senegalese actors Seydour Sarr and Moustapha Fall seen a Matteo Garrone film like “Gomorrah” before being scout-cast in his Italian Oscar nominee “Io Capitano,” they might’ve blinked twice. The 2008 film followed two teens from the Campania slums and into a life of organized crime, ending with them both dead in the mouth of a tractor. “Io Capitano” also follows two teens on a journey — here as African refugees making their way from Dakar to Europe in search of adventure — and as with Garrone’s crowning movie, the Italian filmmaker did not share the full script with his non-professional actors. In other words, Sarr and Fall, who in “Io Capitano” play cousins, had no idea whether their characters would survive the journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

Their voyage to Europe is marked by great danger and peril that Garrone masterfully stages and never dilutes — including a final scene...

Jane Campion is championing Matteo Garrone’s “Io Capitano,” which is Italy’s Oscar-nominated contender for best international feature film.

The movie narrates the Homeric journey of two two Senegalese teenagers, Seydou and Moussa, who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe in pursuit of a better life. It realistically depicts their plight through the pitfalls of the desert, the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea.

In Variety‘s review, critic Guy Lodge called “Io Capitano” the director’s “most robust, purely satisfying filmmaking since [his] international breakthrough with ‘Gomorrah’ 15 years ago.” The drama, which at the Venice Film Festival won best director and best emerging actor for its co-star Seydou Sarr is the strongest Italian Oscar contender in recent memory. The film, which also won best European film at San Sebastian, will be released in the U.S. on Feb. 23 by Cohen Media Group.

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated immigration epic “Io Capitano” is gaining traction in movie theaters across the African continent, and will soon be touring villages in Senegal with the director in tow as part of an itinerant cinema initiative called Cinemovel.

Shot over 13 weeks in Senegal, Italy and Morocco with a cast of non-professional actors, the Italian auteur’s latest feature — the title for which translates to “Me Captain” — narrates the Homeric journey of two young African men, Seydou and Moussa, who decide to leave the Senegalese capital of Dakar to go to Europe. It depicts their plight through the pitfalls of the desert, the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea.

Distributor Pathé BC started the film’s African rollout in Moroccan cinemas in January, followed by screenings in Tunisia, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar,...

Given the challenges that many migrants face when traveling to a new land, it makes sense to assume that they’re fleeing harrowingly nightmarish realities. But the scenes that director Matteo Garrone uses to open his heartrending Io Capitano are far from nightmarish. Garrone’s big-dreaming migrant characters aren’t running away from something so much as they’re running toward it. The possibility that their goal is little more than a mirage makes this epic tale’s often horrendous journey even more wrenching.

The Dakar neighborhood where teenaged Seydou (Seydou Sarr) lives with his mother (Ndeye Khady Sy) and siblings is a chaotic sprawl of ramshackle buildings and bustling markets. A street party practically explodes as a spectacle of drumming, dancing, and colorful homemade couture. Though the Dakar of the film is clearly poor, with few modern conveniences and not much of a job market, it hardly seems the...

"We're about to making a journey, we ask for your blessing." Altitude Films in the UK has unveiled another brand new UK trailer for the film Io Capitano, made by the acclaimed Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone, best known for Gomorrah, Reality, Dogman. Now it's officially nominated for an Academy Award in the Best International Feature category. This first premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and won the Best Director prize there, with stops at AFI Fest and San Sebastian last year as well. Opening in theaters soon. Io Capitano is a Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe. A modern Odyssey through the dangers of the desert, the sea and the ambiguities of the human soul. Starring newcomers Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall. This incredible film is one of these examples of filmmaking where I just...

With final voting complete, the 96th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 10 and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt. We update predictions through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2024 Oscar picks.

The State of the Race

Most contenders in the race for the Best International Feature Film Oscar broke out of film festivals. Of last year’s Oscar nominees, “The Quiet Girl” debuted in Berlin; “Close” and “Eo” won prizes at Cannes, including the shared Grand Prix and Jury Prize, respectively; “Argentina 1985” premiered in Venice; and the eventual winner, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” debuted at Toronto.

Since the award was created in 1956, the Academy invites each country’s film industry to submit their selection for what is now called Best International Feature Film. The movie must contain primarily non-English dialogue, which may explain why France...

As awards season switches up a gear, with the handing out of the Golden Globes and the publication of the Bafta shortlists, one major title stands out in the International categories of both: Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall. It would be a reasonable bet for the Oscar win in any year — if it were actually eligible. In lieu of Triet’s film, which fell well within Academy rules in terms of the amount of English spoken, the French selection panel opted instead for period gourmet drama The Taste of Things to do battle for the country’s honor, a move that is sure to cause a lot of confusion in the coming weeks.

Otherwise, the release of the international shortlist came with very few surprises this year, but perhaps chief among them was an unexpected snub for the Palestinian entry Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soulem.

Sting, Isabella Rossellini, and U.S. director Roger Ross Williams came out to support the recent New York launch of Matteo Garrone’s Venice prizewinning immigration epic “Io Capitano” at the Museum of Modern Art.

The movie – which is Italy’s now shortlisted Oscar candidate for best international feature film – narrates the Homeric journey of two two Senegalese teenagers, Seydou and Moussa, who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe in pursuit of a better life. It realistically depicts their plight through the pitfalls of the desert, the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea.

Variety critic Guy Lodge in his review called “Io Capitano” the director’s “most robust, purely satisfying filmmaking since Garrone’s international breakthrough with ‘Gomorrah’ 15 years ago.” The drama, which at Venice won best director and best emerging actor for its co-star Seydou Sarr is Italy’s strongest Oscar contender in recent memory.

Want to know which international features vying for Oscar gold are worth watching?

Variety‘s team of critics has been on the ground at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and other major film festivals, on the hunt for the best of the best. In December, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its shortlist of 15 films eligible for the second round of voting in the best international feature film category. Those Oscar contenders include “The Zone of Interest,” a United Kingdom-backed look at the Holocaust that’s received rave reviews, as well as searing dramas such as “Io Capitano,” Italy’s entry about two Senegalese migrants, and “Four Daughters,” a mixture of narrative and documentary from Tunisia.

Here are reviews of all of the movies eligible for the Oscar for Best International Feature.

20 Days in Mariupol (Ukraine) — Director Mstyslav Chernov and other AP journos document Russian Federation forces...

Exclusive: Cohen Media Group has set Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone’s latest pic, Io Capitano, for a nationwide release.

The film — which has been shortlisted as Italy’s submission for the Best International Feature Oscar — will roll out nationwide on February 23.

An Italy-Belgium-France co-production, the timely drama tells the story of the adventurous journey of Seydou and Moussa, two young men who leave Dakar to make their way to Europe. Synopsis reads: Io Capitano is a contemporary Odyssey through the dangers of the desert, the horrors of the detention centers in Libya, and the perils of the sea.

The film world premiered to critical acclaim in Competition in Venice, winning Best Director for Garrone, Best Young Star for co-star Seydou Sarr, and Best Production Director for Claudia Cravotta. The pic is the first film Garrone — a two-time Cannes jury prize winner — screened in competition at Venice.

The Deadline review out...

Roberto Benigni, whose film “Life Is Beautiful” won three Oscars in 1999, has come out of the woodwork to support Matteo Garrone’s Golden Globe-nominated “Io Capitano,” which is Italy’s current Oscar candidate for best international feature film.

The revered yet reclusive Italian actor/director, whose most recent big screen role is playing Geppetto in Matteo Garrone’s hit 2019 live-action adaptation of “Pinocchio,” is clearly a big fan of “Io Capitano” (the title translates to “Me Captain”). The movie narrates the Homeric journey of two young African men, Seydou and Moussa, who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe.

Garrone’s immigration drama realistically depicts their plight through the pitfalls of the desert, the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea. Variety critic Guy Lodge in his review called “Io Capitano” the director’s “most robust, purely satisfying filmmaking since Garrone’s international breakthrough with ‘Gomorrah’ 15 years ago.

Two American actor/filmmakers who have enjoyed career-best years at the movies will be celebrated from afar — specifically, in Italy — over the holiday break.

Italy’s Capri, Hollywood International Film Festival will fete Maestro co-writer/director/lead actor Bradley Cooper will its annual Visionary Award and Barbie co-writer/director Greta Gerwig with its inaugural Lina Wertmüller Award, fest director Pascal Vicedomini announced Monday.

The Italian filmmaker Micaela Ramazzotti will also receive the Wertmüller Award, which is named after the trailblazing Italian filmmaker who died in 2012, and which was created to celebrate outstanding female filmmakers.

The 28th edition of Capri, Hollywood will run Dec. 27 through Jan. 1. Dedicated to the memory of Marcello Mastroianni, it is being chaired by the Oscar-winning filmmaker Bobby Moresco and will open with a screening of All of Us Strangers. Maestro will screen Dec. 30.

The fest previously announced that filmmaker Matteo Garrone and actors Seydou Sarr and...

Exclusive: Activist Artists Management has brought on Grant Pennel as a Talent Manager, also signing Moustapha Fall, the Senegalese actor who earned praise for his debut performance in Matteo Garrone’s Golden Globe-nominated Io Capitano.

Central to the Activist team that brought in Fall, Pennell is based in Activist’s West Hollywood office and reports to Founding Partner, Bernie Cahill, and Head of Film and Television Literary, Jon Kanak.

“Grant is a great addition to our growing film and television division,” said Cahill in a statement to Deadline. “His drive and creativity have earned him early success with clients across multiple media formats – film, television, music, podcast, brand deals and more.”

Pennel joins from 111 Media, where he worked with talent from all corners of the globe, helping not only to secure opportunities on screen in film and television projects, but also brand/endorsement deals, podcast launches, and development across scripted and unscripted.

"We want to go to Europe." Cohen Media Group has revealed an official US trailer for a survival called Io Capitano, made by the acclaimed Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone, best known for his films Gomorrah, Reality, Tale of Tales, and Dogman. The film premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and won the Best Director prize there, with stops at AFI Fest and San Sebastian as well. Io Capitano is a Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe. A modern Odyssey through the dangers of the desert, the sea and the ambiguities of the human soul. The film stars newcomers Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall. This incredible film is one of these examples of filmmaking where I just have no idea how they pulled off and filmed certain jaw-dropping scenes, it's all so astonishing to watch. It's...

The ceremony kicks off live from Berlin today (December 9) at 19:30 Cet.

The European Film Awards is taking place in Berlin tonight (December 9), and Screen will be revealing the winners live from the ceremony, kicking off at 19:30 Cet.

German actor Britta Steffenhagen is hosting the awards, which will take place at the Arena Berlin.

Screen will be live-streaming the ceremony below, or you can refresh the page and scroll down to read the winners as they are announced.

Three of the best European film nominees world premiered at Cannes. Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall...

Cohen Media Group will release Matteo Garrone’s drama in North America in early 2024

Cohen Media Group has picked up Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano fo North America.

The drama, which is Italy’s entry to the Oscars 2024 international feature category, will receive a theatrical release in the country early next year.

Told in Wolof and French, it follows a teenage boy and his cousin who emigrate from Senegal to Europe.

The film had its world premiere at Venice where Garrone won the Silver Lion for direction and Seydou Sarr’s performance won the Marcello Mastroianni award.

Io Capitano is...

Cohen Media Group has bought all North American rights to “Io Capitano,” a lushly-lensed, stirring immigration drama by “Gomorrah” director Matteo Garrone. Sold worldwide by Pathé Films, the critically acclaimed movie is Italy’s official Oscar entry and is slated to be released theatrically in early 2024.

With Cohen Media Group as its North American distributor, “Io Capitano” has strengthened its position in the awards season. The movie world premiered to stellar reviews in September at Venice Film Festival, where it was greeted with a 13-minute standing ovation and won the Silver Lion for Garrone and best emerging actor for Seydou Sarr.

“Io Capitano” went on to win the best European film award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The movie is also vying for best film and director at the European Film Awards this weekend.

Reminiscent of “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Io Capitano” tells the epic story of a teenage boy who,...

Io Capitano, Pinocchio, Tale Of Tales director Matteo Garrone with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I would say that fairy tales, as Italo Calvino used to say, fairy tales are true. It’s a different way to talk about the human condition.”

Italy’s Oscar submission and Venice Film Festival Unesco and Best Director Silver Lion winner Matteo Garrone’s suspenseful and fleet Io Capitano (Me Captain), co-written with Massimo Ceccherini (Garrone’s Pinocchio), Massimo Gaudioso, and Andrea Tagliaferri, shot by Paolo Carnera stars the naturalistic duo of Seydou Sarr (Marcello Mastroianni Award Best Young Actor) and Moustapha Fall with Ndeye Khady Sy, Oumar Diaw, Issaka Sawadogo.

Matteo Garrone on Io Capitano shot by Paolo Carnera: “Paolo put himself in the service of the story and he worked carefully on the light, but tried always to be natural, …”

Garrone’s Tale of Tales, based on Giambattista Basile’s early 17th century fairy tales,...

The Marrakech Film Festival’s 20th edition kicks off on Friday with Richard Linklater’s action comedy “Hit Man” as its gala opening, Mads Mikkelsen being feted, and a rich roster of stars and top talents supporting a panoply of cinema from the African continent and the Arab world.

The event will run Nov. 24-Dec. 2 in the ancient Moroccan city despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region, as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September. It’s being held in a more sober form in a spirit of resilience to keep the flame of filmmaking burning in the region, which is cinematically vibrant but has a crucial need for connection with geographically distant countries in Africa and the Arab world as well as with the international circuit at large.

Variety spoke to the fest’s artistic director Rémi Bonhomme...

Matteo Garrone presented his film Io Capitano, Italy’s contender for the 2024 best international feature Oscar, to a packed theater of European parliamentarians and attendees on Nov. 15, for an event titled “Europe Seen by Others.”

The refugee drama, which follows two Senegalese men who travel across Africa and the Mediterranean in an effort to reach Europe, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where star Seydou Sarr won the Silver Lion award for best young actor. Garrone and his Io Capitano co-writers Fofana Amara and Mamadou Kouassi — whose real-life trials were the basis for the film’s story — attended the parliamentary screening. The 600 spectators gave the film a long-standing ovation after the screening.

The members of European Parliament (MEPs) were impressed, with several taking to social media to praise the film and its message. “[Io Capitano is] a tremendously important and powerful work that should be screened in all schools across the continent,...

Updated: Matteo Garrone’s “Io Capitano” received a special screening on Wednesday in Brussels, where hundreds of EU parliament members watched the timely immigration drama on which Pathè has announced a slew of sales.

The film, which is Italy’s Oscar candidate for best international feature film, world premiered to strong reviews in September at Venice Film Festival, where it won best director for Garrone and best emerging actor for its co-star Seydou Sarr.

Shot over 13 weeks in Senegal, Italy and Morocco with a cast of non-professional actors, the Italian auteur’s latest feature – the title for which translates to “Me Captain” – narrates the Homeric journey of two young African men, Seydou and Moussa, who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe. It depicts their plight through the pitfalls of the desert, the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea.

Pathé International has announced “Io...

The drama is Italy’s submission for the international film award at the Oscars.

Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone’s buzzy Venice title Io Capitano is to be distributed in the UK and Ireland by Altitude, released in cinemas from March 8 2024.

The drama has joined the Oscars race as Italy’s official submission for the international film prize, and has already won the Silver Lion for best director and the best young actor prize for Seydou Sarr at Venice, as well as picking up the best European film prize at San Sebastian.

It is nominated for best European film prize at the upcoming European Film Awards,...

Five European films dominate the nominations.

The European Film Academy has revealed the nominees for the main categories of the European Film Awards which take place in Berlin on December 9.

The Academy has shortlisted five of the highest profile films to come out of Europe this year for its best European film category, with the directors of the five films also all nominated in the best European director category. The five films also dominate the acting and screenwriting categories.

Three of the best European film nominees world premiered at Cannes. Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall...

Five European films dominate the nominations for this year’s Awards

The European Film Academy has revealed the nominees for the main categories of the European Film Awards which take place in Berlin on November 9.

The Academy has shortlisted five of the highest profile films to come out of European this year for its best European film category, with the directors of the five films also all nominated in the best European director category. The five films also dominate the acting and screenwriting categories.

Three of the best European film nominees world premiered at Cannes. Justine Triet’s Palme d...

Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano (Me Captain in English), which was recently chosen as Italy’s entry for this season’s best international feature Oscar competition, will be celebrated with the Humanitarian Award at the 28th Capri, Hollywood International Film Festival later this year, the fest announced Sunday. The award will be accepted in-person by Garrone and the film’s stars, Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall.

The film — which premiered in September at the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Silver Lion for the direction by Garrone (2008’s Gomorrah) and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for the performance by Sarr — tells the story of a Senegalese teenager’s desperate quest to get from Dakar to Europe.

“Io Capitano is well deserving of the Capri Humanitarian Award, as it is an important work of art encouraging inclusion and solidarity among human beings and shows the utmost respect for individuality and cultural diversity,...

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track… So, we’re going to do the hard work for you.

This week we’re featuring Matteo Garrone’s gritty Venice Silver Lion-winning migrant drama, Io Capitano. Italy’s submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, it boasts a stunning performance from new talent Seydou Sarr and is drawing audiences in its home country ahead of international rollout later this year.

Name: Io Capitano

Country: Italy

Producers: Archimede, Tarantula, Rai Cinema, Pathé Films

Distributor: Pathé Films

For fans of: Lion, Slumdog Millionaire, Fire at Sea

Veteran Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone’s stock...

Spanish director becomes the fourth consecutive woman director to win the festival’s top prize

The Rye Horn (O Corno), the second feature by Jaione Camborda, has won the top prize, the Golden Shell, at the 2023 San Sebastian Film Festival.

Set on an island off the coast of Galicia in 1971, the film tells the story of a woman who earns a living harvesting shellfish. She is also known on the island for helping other women in childbirth but has to flee and try to cross the border into Portugal after an unexpected event.

Camborda, who was born in San Sebastian,...

Pathé handles world sales; 01 Distribution released in Italy on September 7.

Italy has selected Matteo Garrone’s timely Venice-winning immigration drama Io Capitano to represent the country at the 2024 Oscars.

The emotionally-charged story follows the harrowing journey of two Senegalese teenagers from Dakar to Italy.

It premiered at the Venice Film Festival to strong reviews across the board where it earned Garrone the best director Silver Lion and the best new actor prize for the film’s leading actor Seydou Sarr.

Just days earlier, Garrone and his cast and crew screened the film at the Vatican for Pope Francis.

Told in Wolof and French,...

Italy has picked Matteo Garrone’s moving migration drama Io Capitano to represent the country in the 2024 Oscars in the best international film category.

The feature, which follows the trials of two Senegalese teenagers trying to make it from Dakar to Italy — across the Sahara desert and over the Mediterranean Sea — premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the best director Silver Lion for Garrone and the best new actor prize for lead Seydou Sarr. The Hollywood Reporter picked the film as one of the 15 best movies of this year’s fall festivals.

Io Capitano is especially timely given the new hard line towards immigration taken by Italy’s far-right government under Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Speaking at the U.N. this week, Meloni called for tighter controls on migration, saying she would not allow Italy to become “Europe’s refugee camp.”

Io Capitano was picked by...

Italy has submitted Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano as its candidate for Best International Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

The timely drama follows the hardships of two Senegalese teenagers as they try to make it to Europe via the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea.

The film world premiered to critical acclaim in Competition in Venice winning Best Director for Garrone, Best Young Star for co-star Seydou Sarr and Best Production Director for Claudia Cravotta.

The Deadline review out of Venice describes the film as “a blisteringly topical drama” that could be Garrone’s “best” film to date, in a filmography that also includes Gomorrah, Tale of Tales and Dogman.

The selection was made by a committee overseen by Italian cinema organisation Anica. Its members comprised Alessandro Araimo, Domizia De Rosa, Esmeralda Calabria, Daniela Ciancio, Francesca Lo Schiavo, Giorgio Moroder, Cristiana Paternò, Michele Placido, Paola Randi, Riccardo Tozzi and Gianpiero Tulelli.

All of Us Strangers

Telluride

A lonely gay London writer, orphaned young, revisits his past while starting a new romance with a neighbor in Andrew Haigh’s hauntingly beautiful study of grief, love and family. With a quartet of shattering performances from Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, this is a soul-stirring work, heartfelt and unforgettable. — David Rooney

American Symphony

Telluride

Matthew Heineman’s deeply moving doc follows musician Jon Batiste and his life partner, Suleika Jaouad, through a year of highs (his exploding career) and lows (her cancer recurrence). It’s a concert film, a love story and a snapshot of America’s dogged emergence from the pandemic. — Daniel Fienberg

The Boy and the Heron

Toronto

Hayao Miyazaki emerges from retirement with a profoundly personal swan song — a rumination on love, loss and the intersection between life and death in a world spinning out of control.

For more on Venice's standout films, read our dispatch coverage: "Biopics Reloaded" and "Hitmen, A.I., and Dangerous Women."Poor Things.Main Competition(Jury: Damien Chazelle (chair), Saleh Bakri, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Gabriele Mainetti, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Laura Poitras, and Shu Qi)Golden Lion: Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)Silver Lion Best Director: Matteo Garrone (Io Capitano)Special Jury Prize: Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)Best Screenplay: Pablo Larraín and Guillermo Calderón (El Conde)Best Actress: Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)Best Actor: Peter Sarsgaard (Memory)Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Seydou Sarr (Io Capitano)Explanation For Everything.HORIZONSJury: Jonas Carpignano (chair), Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé, and Tricia Truttle)Best Film: Explanation For Everything (Gábor Reisz)Best Director: Mika Gustafson (Paradise Is Burning)Special Jury Prize: Una Sterminata Domenica (Alain Parroni)Best Actress:...

Poor Things Photo: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival The Golden Lion for best film at Venice Film Festival was awarded to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

The Greek filmmaker accepted the award for the science fiction black comedy about a young woman who is brought back to life, which has been receiving across-the-board critical praise from the festival.

The film, which stars Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe also played at Telluride and will also screen at New York and London film festivals this autumn ahead of its US release in December and UK January release.

yusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist won the Silver Lion Grand Jury prize while Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border won the Special Jury Prize.

Matteo Garrone was named best director for Io Capitano, with the film also seeing Seydou Sarr pick up the Marcello Mastroianni award for promising young performer.

Peter Sarsgaard won the Volpi...

Things are looking up -- way up -- for the latest film from the Greek cinematic maestro of weird, Yorgos Lanthimos. "Poor Things" had already been picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight before it made its way to the 80th Venice International Film Festival, but Searchlight recently pushed the film from its September 8 release date back to December amid the historic and ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. If the studios had seen fit to part with less than 1 percent of their annual revenue to give the writers and actors a fair deal, many of us might have already seen "Poor Things" by now. But now we have all the more reason to look forward to it.

This afternoon, Venezia's mistress of ceremonies, the Italian actress Caterina Murino, took to the Palazzo del Cinema to announce the festival's award winners. The top prize of the Golden Lion (think Palme d'Or or...

With Venice Film Festival wrapping up after quite an epic year, Damien Chazelle’s jury handed out their awards, giving the top prize to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, led by La La Land star Emma Stone. Elsewhere, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Matteo Garrone, Priscilla‘s Cailee Spaeny, and Memory‘s Peter Sarsgaard picked up top prizes.

Check out the list below courtesy of Cineuropa.

Competition

Golden Lion for Best Film

Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos (Ireland/UK/USA)

Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize

Evil Does Not Exist – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan)

Silver Lion – Award for Best Director

Matteo Garrone – Me Captain (Italy/Belgium)

Volpi Cup for Best Actress

Cailee Spaeny – Priscilla (USA/Italy)

Volpi Cup for Best Actor

Peter Sarsgaard – Memory (Mexico/USA)

Award for Best Screenplay

Guillermo Calderón, Pablo Larraín – El conde (Chile)

Special Jury Prize

Green Border – Agnieszka Holland (Poland/France/Czech Republic/Belgium)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Talent

Seydou Sarr...

The winners for the 80th Venice International Film Festival are officially in, with Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things taking the coveted Golden Lion as the best film at the festival. Other winners include Italian director Matteo Garrone, as well as Priscilla actress Cailee Spaeny and Memory star Peter Sarsgaard.

Here is the list of major category winners from the Venice Film Festival:

Golden Lion: Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos

Grand Jury Prize: Evil Does Not Exist by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Special Jury Prize: Green Border by Agnieszka Holland

Silver Lion: Matteo Garrone for Io capitano

Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Cailee Spaeny for Priscilla

Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Peter Sarsgaard for Memory

Golden Osella for Best Screenplay: Guillermo Calderón and Pablo Larraín for El Conde

Marcello Mastroianni Award: Seydou Sarr for Io capitano

Yorgos Lanthimos has won at the Venice Film Festival before, taking home the Best Screenplay award for Alps...

As many predicted, the 80th annual Venice Film Festival bestowed its top prize, the Golden Lion, to Yorgos Lanthimos’ rapturously received “Poor Things.” The win furthers the film’s increasing Oscar buzz, powered by a performance from star Emma Stone that could bring her a second Oscar for Best Actress. The film will open in limited release from Searchlight on Dec. 8, then slowly roll out nationwide.

However, the leading actress prize went to Cailee Spaeny for her work in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” an intimate look at Priscilla Presley’s early courtship with Elvis Presley. (The film opens in theaters on Nov. 3.) Peter Sarsgaard won leading actor honors for his turn as a dementia-afflicted widower in Michel Franco’s “Memory,” opposite Jessica Chastain.

Matteo Garrone’s immigrant drama “Me Captain” captured two major awards, including the best director prize and the Marcello Mastroianni Young Actor/Actress Award for breakout star Seydou Sarr.