Italian director Matteo Garrone, who was at the 2020 Berlinale with Roberto Benigni-starrer “Pinocchio,” is set to return to the director’s chair in March with coming-of-age adventure drama “Io Capitano,” on which France’s Pathé will be handling international distribution.
Garrone’s new pic, whose title translates as “I, Captain,” will be shot in Italy, Morocco and Senegal, marking the first time, Garrone –– a two-time Cannes jury prize-winner, with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012 –– sets a feature film outside of Italy.
As is customary with Garrone, story details of “Io Capitano” are being kept under wraps, besides the fact that he wrote the screenplay with regular collaborators Massimo Gaudioso and Andrea Tagliaferri and actor Massimo Ceccherini (“Pinocchio”), who also contributed to the “Pinocchio” screenplay.
RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco told Variety that the film is “a coming-of-age adventure drama,” but declined to disclose further details, saying that Garrone does not want them disclosed.
Casting details are also being kept under wraps.
“Io Capitano” is being produced by Garrone’s own Rome-based Archimede shingle with RAI Cinema, which will release the film in Italy, and Tarantula, the production company in Belgium and Luxembourg that specializes in co-productions.
Pathé has never before acted as international distributor for Garrone’s works, which the director basically self-produces.
