David Di Donatello Winners: Matteo Garrone’s ‘Io Capitano’ Wins Best Film & Director At Top Italian Awards

Melanie Goodfellow
·5-min read

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated drama Io Capitano triumphed in Italy’s David di Donatello film awards on Friday evening, winning best film and best director.

The film about the trials and tribulations of two Senegalese teenagers as they try to make it to Europe via the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea, also won best producer for companies Archimede, Rai cinema, Pathé and Tarantula as well as best sound, special effects, cinematography and editing.

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Io Capitano premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, where it won best director for Garrone and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor for Seydou Sarr.

The movie went on to enjoy a buzzy awards season, securing a Golden Globe nomination for best non-English language film and an Academy Award nomination for best international film.

“This film tells the stories of those who are not listened to,” said Garrone, on receiving the best director award. “It was essential to make this film with those who actually lived that contemporary odyssey. Even on the set I was lucky enough to work with the extras who had made that journey and they helped me and I often found myself co-directing with them. I felt like a director but also a spectator.”

“I want to thank everyone who made the film with me, even the actors Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall. If the film has come this far it is thanks to their extraordinary, intense and true interpretation.”

Other top winners on Friday evening included Italian actress and director Paola Cortellesi’s There’s Still Tomorrow with six wins.

The drama clinched best new director, actress and original screenplay for Cortellesi as well as best supporting actress for Emanuela Fanelli, the spectator prize and the David Giovani, judged by a youth jury.

The black-and-white drama revolves around a downtrodden Rome housewife dealing with domestic violence, against the backdrop of Italy’s post-World War Two 1946 referendum giving women the right to vote.

The David di Donatello wins for There’s Still Tomorrow top a stellar run for the film which drew 4.8M spectators in Italy last year for a $35M ($33M euros) gross, beating global box office giant Barbie, which sold 4.3M tickets in the country.

“We’re all spectators… I’d liked to thank the five million people who left their homes, looked for a parking space and paid for a ticket to see the my film”, said Cortellesi as she received the spectator prize.

David di Donatello 2024 Nominations and Winners (in bold)

Best Film

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Paola Cortellesi

  • A Brighter Tomorrow, Nanni Moretti

  • Io Capitano, Matteo Garrone

  • La Chimera, Alice Rohrwacher

  • Kidnapped, Marco Bellocchio

Best Director

  • Nanni Moretti, A Brighter Tomorrow, Nanni Moretti

  • Matteo Garrone, Io Capitano

  • Andrea di Stefano, Last Night Of Amore

  • Alice Rohrwacher, La Chimera

  • Marco Bellocchio, Kidnapped

Best New Director

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Paola Cortellesi

  • Disco Boy, Giacomo Abbruzzese

  • Felicità, Micaela Ramazzotti

  • Palazzina Laf, Michele Riondino

  • Fireworks, Giuseppe Fiorello

Best Original Script

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Furio AndreottI, Giulia calenda, Paola Cortellesi

  • A Brighter Tomorrow, Francesca Marciano, Nanni MorettI, Federica Pontremoli, Valia Santella

  • Io capitano, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo CeccherinI, Andrea Tagliaferri

  • La chimera, Alice Rohrwacher

  • Palazzina LAF, Maurizio Braucci, Michele Riondi

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Scarlet, Pietro Marcello, Maurizio Braucci, Maud Ameline

  • Lubo, Giorgio DirittI, Fredo Valla

  • Misericordia, Emma Dante, Elena Stancanelli, Giorgio Vasta

  • Mixed by Erry, Armando Festa, Sydney Sibilia

  • Kidnapped, Marco Bellocchio, Susanna Nicchiarelli

Best Producer

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Mario Gianani, Lorenzo Gangarossa

  • Comandante,  Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta CalorI, Viola Prestieri

  • Disco Boy, Giulia Achilli, Marco AlessI, Lionel massol, Pauline Seigland, André logie

  • Io capitano, Archimede, Rai cinema, Pathé, Tarantula

  • La chimera, Carlo Cresto Dina

Best Actress

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Paola Cortellesi

  • Like Sheep Among Wolves, Isabella Ragonese

  • Felicità, Micaela Ramazzotti

  • Last Night Of Amore, Linda Caridi

  • Kidnapped, Barbara Ronchi

Best Actor

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Valerio Mastandrea

  • A Hundred Sundays, Antonio Albanese

  • Comandante, Pierfrancesco Favino

  • La Chimera, Josh O’Connor

  • Palazzina LAF, Michele Riondino

Supporting Actress

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Emanuela Fanelli

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Romana Maggiora vergano

  • A Brighter Tomorrow, Barbora Bobulova

  • La Chimera, Alba Rohrwacher

  • La Chimera, Isabella Rossellini

Supporting Actor

  • Adagio, Adriano Giannini

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Giorgio Colangeli

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Vinicio Marchioni

  • A Brighter Tomorrow, Silvio Orlando

  • Palazzina LAF, Elio Germano

Cinematography

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Davide Leone

  • Comandante, Ferran Paredes Rubio

  • Io Capitano, Paolo Carnera

  • La Chimera, Hélène Louvart

  • Kidnapped, Francesco Di Giacomo

Composer

  • Adagio, Subsonica

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Lele Marchitelli

  • A Brighter Tomorrow, Franco Piersanti

  • Io Capitano, Andrea Farri

  • The Last Night Of Amore, Santi Pulvirenti

Best International Film

  • Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet

  • The Beasts, Rodrigo Sorogoyen

  • Fallen Leaves, Aki Kaurismäki

  • Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese

  • Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan

Sound

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Filippo Porcari, Alessandro Feletti, Luca Anzellotti, Paolo Segat

  • Comandante, Valentino Giannì, Alessandro Feletti, Mirko Perri, Giancarlo Rutigliano

  • A Brighter Tomorrow,  Alessandro Zanon, Marta Billingsley, Fabrizio Quadroli, Paolo Segat

  • Io Capitano, Maricetta Lombardo, Daniela Bassani, Mirko Perri, Gianni Pallotto

  • La Chimera, Xavier Lavorel, Marta Billingsley, Maxence Ciekawy

Set Design

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Paola Comencini, Fiorella Cicolini

  • Comandante,  Carmine Guarino, Iole Autero

  • Io capitano, Dimitri Capuani, arredamento Roberta Troncarelli

  • La chimera, Emita Frigato, Rachele Meliadò

  • Kidnapped, Andrea Castorina, Valeria Vecellio

Costume

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Alberto Moretti

  • Comandante, Massimo Cantini Parrini

  • Io capitano, Stefano Ciammitti

  • La Chimera, Loredana Buscemi

  • Kidnapped, Sergio Ballo, Daria Calvelli

Make-up

  • Adagio Antonello Resch, Lorenzo Tamburini, Michele salgaro vaccaro, Francesca Galafassi

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Ermanno Spera

  • Comandante, Paola GattabrusI, Lorenzo Tamburini

  • Io Capitano, Dalia CollI, Roberta Martorina

  • Kidnapped, Enrico Iacoponi

Hair

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Teresa Di Serio

  • Comandante, Massimo Gattabrusi

  • Io capitano, Stefano Ciammitti, Dalia Colli

  • La chimera, Daniela Tartari

  • Kidnapped, Alberta Giuliani

Editing

  • There’s Still Tomorrow, Valentina Mariani

  • Io Capitano, Marco Spoletini

  • The Last Night Of  Amore, Giogio’ Franchini

  • La Chimera, Nelly Quettier

  • Kidnapped, Francesca Calvelli, Stefano Mariotti

Special Effects

  • Adagio, Stefano Leoni, Flaminia Maltese

  • Comandante  Kevin Tod Haug, Stacey Dodge

  • My Summer With The Shark, Fabio Tomassetti, Daniele Tomassetti

  • Io capitano, Laurent Creusot, Massimo Cipollina

  • Kidnapped, Rodolfo Migliari, Lena Di Gennaro

Documentary

  • Enzo Jannacci: Vengo Anch’io,  Giorgio Verdelli

  • Io Noi e Gaber, Riccardo Milani

  • Somebody Down There Likes Me, Mario Martone

  • Walls, Kasia Smutniak

  • Roma, Santa e Dannata, Daniele Ciprì

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