Io capitano

Io capitano (lit. 'Me Captain' in Italian) is a 2023 drama film directed by Matteo Garrone, from a screenplay written by Garrone with Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini and Andrea Tagliaferri.

The film, an international co-production between Italy, Belgium and France, is based on an original idea by Garrone, inspired by actual stories of migrants' African routes to Europe. Filming took place in Senegal, Morocco and Italy.

Io capitano competed for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion for Matteo Garrone's direction and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Seydou Sarr's performance. It was released theatrically in Italy by 01 Distribution on 7 September 2023, receiving critical acclaim, and winning seven awards at the 69th David di Donatello, including Best Film. The film also received nominations for Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Golden Globe Awards and Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Plot
Seydou and Moussa, two Senegalese teenage cousins, leave their hometown Dakar to reach Italy and escape poverty. They transit through Mali equipped with false passports. The forgery is discovered by a policeman, but they avoid prison in exchange for a bribe. Once in Niger, they pay to join a group that will cross the desert on foot with a guide until they enter Libya. The group consists of many women and young children. One woman passes away from exhaustion. After entering Libya, Rebels intercept the group and shake them down for valuables. When the rebels discover that Moussa has been hiding his money, they take him to jail. Seydou continues with the group, forlorn. After crossing the desert, the trip turns out to be a ruse as the group is locked in a Mafia-run prison with hundreds of people from all over Africa. Under threat of torture, the inmates are extorted for contact information of relatives so that they may be asked for ransom money. Rather than allow his family to know he has been captured, Seydou allows himself to be subjected to torture. The next day, the guards relocate inmates who have specialized skills. Representatives of wealthy individuals examine the inmates as a slave auction is conducted. Another inmate named Martin offers himself and Seydou as bricklayers.

Despite their servitude, the two are mostly treated well as workers on a remote wealthy estate. Martin and Seydou bond in their cooperation and discussions of their families and hopes for their futures. Having completed a number of tasks well, the patriarch of the estate releases Martin and Seydou and pays for their transport to Tripoli. Martin sorrowfully departs Tripoli to continue his journey towards Naples while Seydou remains in Tripoli to search the Senegalese enclaves for Moussa. After supporting himself by working in construction for a period of time, Seydou finally locates Moussa. Moussa had escaped from jail but was shot in the leg while doing so. Moussa's leg is temporarily stabilized, but his need for advanced medical care puts further pressure on Seydou to resume the journey to Europe. They turn to a fixer, Ahmed, who organizes the crossings in the Mediterranean Sea.

Not having enough money, they are offered only one option: Seydou will have to drive the boat himself. Ahmed instructs Seydou on how to steer the vehicle and navigate with a compass. Despite a grueling journey, Seydou manages to pilot the boat and all of the passengers to Sicily. Mere miles offshore from Sicily, the boat is intercepted by an Italian coast guard helicopter. Despite the jubilation of Seydou and the boat's passengers, they now face an uncertain future in the hands of the Italian government.

Cast

 * Seydou Sarr as Seydou
 * Moustapha Fall as Moussa
 * Issaka Sawagodo as Martin
 * Hichem Yacoubi as Ahmed
 * Doodou Sagna as Charlatan
 * Khady Sy as Seydou's Mother
 * Bamar Kane as Bouba
 * Cheick Oumar Diaw as Sisko

Production
Io capitano is based on an original idea by director Matteo Garrone, who wrote the screenplay with Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini and Andrea Tagliaferri. The script is based on the stories of emigration from Africa to Europe by Kouassi Pli Adama Mamadou, Arnaud Zohin, Amara Fofana, Brhane Tareke, and Siaka Doumbia.

The film was produced by Archimede, Rai Cinema, Tarantula, Pathé and Logical Content Ventures, in coproduction with RTBF, VOO-BE TV, Proximus and Shelter Prod, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Film and Audiovisual Centre of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, taxshelter.be, ING, and the tax shelter of the Belgian federal government, and the participation of Canal+, Ciné+ and Wallimage (Wallonia). The project had a budget of approximately €11.2 million.

The castings, under the direction of Henri-Didier Njikam, took place on the African continent, and features Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall, originally from Dakar, at ages 17 and 18, respectively. Principal photography began in Dakar, Senegal. The production, which lasted for 13 weeks, also took place in Morocco and Italy.

Release
Io capitano was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 6 September 2023, and received a 13-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening. World sales are handled by Pathé International. The film was theatrically released in Italy on 7 September 2023 by 01 Distribution. Pathé distributed the film in France on 3 January 2024. Paradiso Films handled the theatrical release in Belgium on 10 January 2024. It was also released by Cohen Media Group in the United States on 23 February 2024.

A special screening of the film took place at the Vatican on 14 September 2023. Garrone and the cast of the film were in attendance, where they were granted an audience with Pope Francis at his Domus Sanctae Marthae residence.

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 102 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "A journey toward hope, Io Capitano perambulates through the ravishing Saharan landscape encountering the most sublime and debased corners of humanity". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable".

Guy Lodge of Variety reflected on the theme of the film by reporting that, compared to other European film projects dealing with African emigration to Europe, it is seen "not as a setting but as an almost mythical goal." Lodge states that the director proves to be "more robust and fulfilling" than in previous projects, and that although the film in some scenes presents "Western aesthetics and narrative instincts," it is "hard not to get caught up in the film's great emotional range" supported by the skill of actor Seydou Sarr. Leslie Felperin, reviewing the film for The Hollywood Reporter, wrote that despite the presence of "dazzling landscapes," the film "always keeps the focus on human beings," sensing a "tension between the everyday world and the spiritual dimension, a blurring that is often a characteristic of West African cinema," due to the fact that "Garrone cares about making us think until the last moment of the film." Deadline Hollywood journalist Damon Wise has described the cinematic technique adopted for the film as "impeccable," writing that cinematographer Paolo Carnera was able to convey "a surprising and engaging immediacy." Wise also says that "the film's greatest merit" was the cast of actors who are able to make the project "authentic at every stage of its audacious journey."

For Italian film critic Mattia Pasquini of Ciak gave the film four stars out of five, writing that the most important factor is the "intellectual and design honesty" in which the director makes "the choice to limit his authorship." The journalist reported that although the film sidesteped some "dramatic possibilities" and presents a "mechanical" narrative in some scenes, the end result is constituted of "legitimate and uncritical choices that make the film ideologically unassailable." Davide Turrini of Il Fatto Quotidiano stated that in the film "the immediate structural reference is to the Odyssey" in which "the fragile and soft innocence of the two protagonists" are "prevented from being a community of solidarity." Paolo Mereghetti, reviewing the film for Corriere della Sera, wrote that the film is able to "always remain at protagonist height, identifying with their gaze, avoiding any preachy attitude" transfiguring "tragedy through the power of fantasy and fable."