TORONTO – Winner of the David Di Donatello Award for Best picture in 2024, and nominee for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, “Io Capitano” has earned acclaim from the Industry’s top brass while captivating audiences worldwide. 

The film, an amalgamation of true stories based on four migrants who journeyed from North Africa to Europe, is advertised as an Odyssey of Homeric proportions. Inspiring yes, but a complicated watch. It’s a rare glimpse into the tortures and abuses endured by migrants as they are trafficked into Europe through North Africa – an often-fatal voyage for those who risk it.

Director and Co-Writer Matteo Garrone: “It started with the desire to tell the part of the story that nobody knows. We tried to give you the possibility to live the journey through the eyes of [a 16 year old migrant] Seydou. The stories are all based on true stories. We wanted to give the voice to them”. Illegal immigration is a hot button issue for Europeans and especially Italians, given that Italy faces more sea-arrivals than any other European country – circa 158,000 in 2023. “Io Capitano” however, doesn’t offer solutions for the crisis. It’s simply a migrant’s perspective.

The journey begins in Dakar Senegal, where musically gifted cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) dream of stardom in Europe. Having saved up enough departure money, they leave their families behind and risk everything to get to Italy. To do it, they’ll have to survive the searing heat of the Sahara and a near impossible stretch across the Mediterranean, which as it turns out is the least of their hurdles.

Seydou and Moussa come of age during a ghastly chain of events, encountering refugee corpses, being tortured by Libyan gangs and being sold into slavery. The horrors depicted are of the see-it-to-believe-it variety, unspeakable for most, and even further disheartening due to the story being true. “Io Capitano”, despite detailing the tragic voyage of many unfortunate refugees, brings to light as only films can [sometimes] do, the brutal sacrifices incurred before reaching Italian shores. While the viewer can’t help but sympathize with Seydou, Garrone’s script doesn’t politicize the issue. “In this case…because you are telling a story of an argument so delicate, you have to be very careful, and be simple”, says Garrone.

Italy, under Meloni’s government has sought tighter controls over illegal immigration, but hasn’t quite delivered on that promise, citing a lack of EU support on the matter. Others, like Charities and Activists, would like to see more aid and reception facilities opened up for the newly arrived. Garrone’s “Io Capitano” doesn’t presume to solve the matter but what it does is try “to tell the story of this odyssey from the point of view of the African”, says the Director. “We are used to seeing the boat arriving, sometimes people alive sometimes dead, and we don’t know very well of what happens before”. Does knowing what happens before make the issue less complicated? Probably not. But it is a stark reminder that humans are suffering – on either side of the equation.

Watch “Io Capitano” on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube

All images are copyright of Archimede Films   

Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix