Episodes behind Italy’s Oscar-nominated migrant epic ‘Io Capitano’ proved too graphic for final cut

By TRISHA THOMAS
Associated Press

CASTEL VOLTURNO, Italy (AP) — A migrant’s epic journey over African deserts, through illegal prisons and across the Mediterranean Sea in a smugglers’ boat informed Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated film “Io Capitano.” But some episodes that the Ivorian migrant witnessed on his three-year odyssey were too strong to make the final cut. Garrone’s film, which is nominated in the best international feature film category, traces the journey of two teenage boys who follow the route from Senegal across the Niger desert to Libya, where they board a rusty boat packed with migrants. In the movie, no one dies on the perilous passage. In real life, the Ivorian migrant said “people died. And I was lucky to survive.” He provided horrific details of torture that contribute to the film’s powerful message.