Pathé International has unveiled the first English-language trailer for Matteo Garrone’s buzzy coming-of-age adventure feature Io Capitano ahead of the film’s September 6 premiere in competition at Venice. 

Ardavan Safaee, president of Pathé Films, described the film shot in Senegal, Italy and Morocco as “an extraordinary project about two young Senegalese men who decide to leave their village to try out an adventure in Europe that deals with the difficulties of immigration.”

Told in Wolof and French, Io Capitano follows the two young men as they leave Dakar and set off on a contemporary odyssey forcing them to confront the dangers of the desert, the horrors of the detention centres in Libya and the perils of the sea along the way.

Io Capitano, which means “I, Captain” in Italian, is an Italy-Belgium co-production produced by Garrone’s Archimede with Rai Cinema and Tarantula alongside Pathé and Logical Content Ventures.

Pathé will release the film in France in January 2024 and is handling world sales via its Pathé International arm. 01 Distribution is handling the Italian release.