MATTEO GARRONE | ITALY, BELGIUM, FRANCE | 2023 | 121 MIN | NR | WOLOF, FRENCH
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 mind’s eye and 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.
Cast: Seydou Sarr, Issaka Sawadogo, Moustapha Fall, Hichem Yacoubi