Oscars 2024: Matteo Garrone’s ‘Io, Capitano’ Representing Italy

As the Oscars approach on March 10th, 2024, Italy returns for ‘Best International Feature’ after the nomination of The Hand of God two years ago.

Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano is the Italian representative at the Oscars in the “Best International Feature” category. Having premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won him the Best Director Silver Lion award, Garrone hopes to repeat this success at this year’s Academy Awards.

The gripping emigration drama of two Senegalese teenagers going from Dakar to Italy also won one of the leads of the film, the 17-year-old Seydou Sarr, the Best New Actor award at the Venice Film Festival. Garrone has said in a recent interview  with Variety that he learned a lot from his main actors on this project, as they made the same harrowing journey depicted in the film in real life. He added that he wanted to focus on the rarely-depicted journey rather than the arrival, wanting to “recreate something authentic for the respect of the people that made this journey…because in the last 15 years, 27,000 people have died making this journey through Africa trying to reach Europe.”

Produced by Rai Cinema and Archimede Srl Io, Capitano will be in theaters from February 23 released by Cohen Media Group

View the Trailer: https://lnkd.in/gJbrVCvE

With 11 Best International Feature wins to its name, Italy has a good track record at the Oscars. However, their last triumph in this category was over a decade ago in 2014, with Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty. Will Italy rejuvenate its prestige at the 2024 Oscars?

Io Capitano will be competing against these films for the title of “Best International Feature”:

Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom

Find the rest of the nominations: Vanity Fair.