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IO CAPITANO (Matteo Garrone, 2023, in Wolof and French with English subtitles, 121 min, DCP)

“A grand, honestly felt emotional sweep… Garrone’s most robust, purely satisfying filmmaking since his international breakthrough with Gomorrah 15 years ago'” --Variety

The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, the Department of French and Italian at Northwestern University, and the Block Cinema present a screening of the movie Io Capitano by Matteo Garrone (2023).

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 unfurling an epic, cinematographically magnificent odyssey from West Africa to Italy. The story is told through the experiences of two Senegalese teenagers living in Dakar who yearn for a brighter future in Europe. Yet between their dreams and reality lies a treacherous journey through a labyrinth of checkpoints, the scorched Saharan desert, a fetid North African prison, and the vast waters of the Mediterranean where thousands have died packed inside vessels barely fit for passage.

Followed by a post-screening discussion with Professors Domietta Torlasco and Massimiliano Delfino of Northwestern University, and Professor Federico Faloppa of the University of Reading.