Synopsis Io Capitano, directed by Matteo Garrone
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 unfolding an epic, cinematographically magnificent odyssey. The story is told through the mind’s eye and experiences of two Senegalese teenagers who, longing for a brighter future, leave Dakar and embark on a journey from West Africa to Italy. However, between their dreams and reality lies a treacherous journey through a labyrinth of checkpoints, the scorched Saharan desert, a fetid North African prison ruled by local mafias and the vast waters of the Mediterranean, where thousands have died packed inside unsafe and often not seaworthy vessels, barely fit for passage.