L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2023 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS t h e M a r c e l l o M a s t r o i a n n i Award for Seydou Sarr's per- formance. Following its suc- cessful debut in Venice, the movie had its US premiere at AFI FEST at the Chinese The- ater in Hollywood on October 2 8 , 2 0 2 3 ; t h e e v e n t w a s attended by the Italian direc- tor along with the film's stars Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall. The symbolic value of the movie's first screening in LA is immense, if we think that it has been chosen as Italy's entry for this season's Best International Feature Oscar competition. L'Italo-Americano had the pleasure to sit down with G a r r o n e o n t h e o c c a s i o n of Me Captain's LA premier t o d i s c u s s t h e m o v i e , i t s inception and meaning, as well as the natural difficulties of bringing a complex human and social issue like migration onto the big screen. The film was inspired by true stories of emigra- t i o n f r o m A f r i c a t o E u r o p e b y K o u a s s i P l i A d a m a M a m a d o u , A r n a u d Z o h i n , A m a r a Fofana, Brhane Tareke, and Siaka Doumbia. At what stage did you start working with them? I began listening to the sto- ries of some of the migrants I met in Rome, Sicily, and vari- ous parts of Italy. Their tales truly surprised me. In Italy and Europe, we are accus- tomed to seeing only the final part of the journey, just the s e g m e n t w h e r e t h e b o a t reaches Italian shores. This was one of the initial reasons t h a t d r o v e m e t o t e l l t h i s story, to try to give a visual form to a part of the journey that is unknown, and to final- ly give a voice to them, as they usually don't have one. What was your main goal in writing the script after listening to these stories? I aspired to be a mediator. I collaborated with them on this film, striving to infuse my perspective and expertise as a director, yet we created this film collectively. They are the initial audience of the film. It was paramount for me that they finally had a film where their experiences could be acknowledged, as often, when they attempt to share their odyssey, they go unheard. This film unveils the tragedy they had to confront. W h a t a s p e c t o f t h i s story would the audience from Western countries not expect? W e a r e a c c u s t o m e d t o thinking that the primary r e a s o n s A f r i c a n s w a n t t o leave are escaping war or cli- mate change. However, there are many youths: 70% of the African population is young, and the globalization that r e a c h e d E u r o p e h a s a l s o reached Africa. They have access to social networks and can thus see our world. Our world appears full of light and promises, yet they don't see what's behind it, they only see the image we project. Hence, t h e y d e s i r e t o r e a c h t h i s s e e m i n g l y b e t t e r r e a l i t y . When you are young, you want to seize the opportunity to earn money and support your family. The desire to pursue a better future is common to all people. However, the film highlights that t h e r e a r e d i f f e r e n c e s . How do you portray this in the movie? T h e m a i n d i f f e r e n c e between them and us is that they have to risk their lives to move. We can simply take a plane and go to another coun- try. But if they want to move and come to our country, they have to risk their lives. Hence, there's a system of injustice, which we all are aware of. We wanted to tell this story, the journey of a hero, because I believe they are the true rep- resentatives of contemporary epic. They are the heroes of these times. How important was the choice of the cast? I was truly fortunate to find these young men because their performance is pure and i n t e n s e , I b e l i e v e i t g o e s straight to the hearts of the audience. I found them dur- i n g c a s t i n g i n S e n e g a l . Moustapha was studying the- ater, and acting, and Seydou comes from a family of actors, h i s m o t h e r a n d s i s t e r a r e actresses, so he too loves act- ing, although he is more pas- sionate about playing soccer and wants to become a soccer player. They auditioned, and then they met, and from that moment they became like brothers, they have always stayed together. They also composed the songs that are heard in the film. D o S e y d o u a n d Moustapha share any- t h i n g i n c o m m o n w i t h their characters? When I filmed, I chose not to give them the entire script because, at the time, they had never left Senegal and shared the same desire as their char- acters to discover the world a n d c o m e t o E u r o p e . Mustafa's dream was to come t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , s o I wanted to maintain this sense o f a n t i c i p a t i o n f o r t h e m , allowing them to discover what was happening step by step. This is also why I shot in chronological order to ensure that this tension would esca- late. What was the biggest challenge during shoot- ing? Shooting this film was par- ticularly challenging for me as I was directing in Wolof, a lan- guage I neither speak nor understand, so I had to place my trust in them. It's a film built on mutual trust. I hadn't anticipated that their perfor- mance would soar to such heights, making the film a pre- cious gift from them and all the African actors to all of us. Garrone at the AFI FEST (Photo: Getty Images for AFI FEST) Sarr and Fall's performances, which were fully based on a genuine affinity with the characters they portrayed, transformed Me Captain into a conduit for empathy, understanding, and reflection on a global issue that continues to shape the human experience CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

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