Matteo Garrone film in the running for an Oscar.

The migration-themed Italian movie Io Capitano directed by Matteo Garrone is up for an Oscar for Best International Film, organisers announced on Tuesday.

Based on the real-life story of the perilous journey of two young Senagalese men from Dakar to Italy, Garrone's film is up against four other Oscar hopefuls: Perfect Days (Japan), Society of the Snow (Spain), The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany) and The Zone of Interest (UK).

Garrone's critically-acclaimed movie, which stars Moustapha Fall and Seydou Sarr, was recently nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Film - non-English language category but lost out to Anatomy of a Fall.

The Rome director, 55, is celebrated for diverse films including Gomorrah (2008), Tale of Tales (2015), Dogman (2018) and Pinocchio (2019).

Over the decades, Italian movies have won 11 Oscars, the most recent being Paolo Sorrentino’s La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty) in 2013.

The 2024 Oscars ceremony is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on 10 March.

Cover photo: GIO_LE / Shutterstock.com