Seydou Sarr

Moustapha Fall

Issaka Sawadogo

Hichem Yacoubi

Doodou Sagna

Khady Sy

Venus Gueye

Cheick Oumar Diaw

Joe Lassana

Mamadou Sani

Bamar Kane

Beatrice Gnonko

Flaure B.B. Kabore

Affif Ben Badra

Observateur Ebène

Jacky Zappa

Abdellah Elbkiri

Bidar Abdelahad

Mohamed Amine Kihel

Mouhamed Gaye

Cheikh Ndiaye

Babacar Diop

Emilie Adams

Princess Erika

Mariam Kaba

Aly Niang

Taha Benaim

Didier Njikam

Ibrahima Gueye

Paolo Carnera

Marco Spoletini

Dimitri Capuani

Stefano Ciammitti

Matteo Garrone

Mirko Perri

Constance Demontoy

Ghislaine Nejjar

Francesco Vedovati

Roberta Troncarelli

Elio Terribili

Andrea Cuomo

Ivan Ferrandes

Rachid Aadassi

Matteo Carlesimo

Théo Richard

Abdelfattah Qzaibar

Lucie Llopis

Daniela Sarli

Fabrizio Diamanti

Andrea Pallini

Hamza Boumalki

Davide D'Onofrio

Michael Donatone

Jaouad Chajai

Stefano Puglisi

Luca Ferretti

Gabriele Gorga

Benedetta Barroero

Andrea Cammertoni

Abdellah Oukseh

Tiziano Saraca

Othmane Ajana

Massimo Gaudioso

Andrea Tagliaferri

Massimo Ceccherini

Andrea Farri

Paolo Del Brocco

Adventure

Drama

Io capitano

Archimede

RAI Cinema

Tarantula

Pathé

Logical Content Ventures

Belgium

France

Italy

Brent Marchant

Movies about the flood of new immigrants into Europe from Africa and the Middle East have been growing in number in recent years. Depictions of the many hardships these individuals face (sometimes graphic and disturbing in nature) have been making their way into the cinematic community, showing exactly what these desperate freedom seekers are up against. And this latest offering in this genre does just that in telling the story of two Senegalese teens as they make the perilous attempt to find their way to a new life in Italy. Writer-director Matteo Garrone tells the harrowing tale of cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) as they wrestle with the challenges of the environment, unrepentant scammers, forced detention and torture by authorities and criminals, and the harsh conditions of crossing the Mediterranean. However, while the film features fine performances, cinematography and location settings, it all seems a little too familiar, a tale with a hole-filled plot and a series of cliffhangers that seem to have all-too-convenient solutions to them. It’s also overlong, filled with a variety of sequences that could have been easily pared back without losing anything meaningful. Nevertheless, these shortcomings are countered, to a certain extent, by an intriguing mystical and surreal subtext, which is actually the picture’s strongest (though most woefully underdeveloped) aspect. In light of the foregoing, then, I must admit that I’m somewhat mystified how this release managed to secure so many accolades, including Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best international film, especially given how many other better offerings were available. “Io Capitano” is one of those movies that makes a good instructional picture for those who’d like to know more about the plight of this new wave of immigrants, but its hype seems a bit inflated in the face of previous releases on this subject and other foreign language offerings more deserving of the praise.

CinemaSerf

At times this is a really quite harrowing film to watch as we follow two cousins "Seydou" (Seydou Sarr) and "Moussa" (Moustapha Fall) on one hell of a journey. They are still going to school in Dakar, but have secretly dreamed of heading to Europe. The work hard in their spare time, and try to keep their mother's in the dark until the time comes to start their journey. Getting from their homeland is comparatively easy - they get a bus, but once they begin their travels in earnest, that's when they (and we) encounter the appalling people traffickers who try to get them across the Sahara to Libya where even worse awaits them. The venality of the human spirit is writ hugely here as people are beaten, tortured, imprisoned and sold and with the boys briefly separated, we now focus on the tribulations of the determined and strong-willed "Seydou" who must get his friend to an hospital - even if that means driving a boat full of fellow migrants himself across the Mediterranean to Sicily! The two boys are super here, there's a chemistry between them that shows well their stoicism, perseverance and loyalty to each other - in the face of some fairly eye-watering ghastliness. It's not without it's humour and the effectiveness of their facial expressions isn't wasted on the camera on these occasions. These two are engaging and I felt as invested in their success as I felt disgusted by man's gross inhumanity to those so apparently vulnerable that they barely had the clothes they (sort of) stood up in. If you saw "Flee" (2021) then you'll have an idea what you are in for, only this time we have some stunning real photography of this planet when it's at is most arid, hostile and unforgiving. I can't think this will ever get too general a cinema release, but if you do get a chance then it's well worth catching.