Matteo Garrone's Dogman will be Italy's candidate for the next best foreign-language film Oscar, the selection committee set up by Anica said on Tuesday.
Dogman beat off competition from 20 other Italian movies.
The film is inspired by the story of Pietro De Negri, a
dog groomer in Rome's Magliana neighbourhood who tortured and
killed boxer Giancarlo Ricci after locking him up in a small
cage in a case that shocked Italy 30 years ago.
Marcello Fonte won the best actor prize at the 2018 Cannes
Film Festival for his performance in Dogman.
Garrone, 49, is best known for his hit 2008 movie Gomorrah
about the Neapolitan movie based on the book of the same name by
Roberto Saviano.
The Oscar nominations will be announced on January 22 ahead
of the ceremony for the Academy Awards on February 24.
"I thank the commission for choosing Dogman, giving us this
great opportunity of which we are very proud," said Garrone.
"The merit is also the humanity of Marcello Fonte, the
performance of Edoardo Pesce, and the passion all of us put into
this project.
"We well know that the selection is only the first step and
that the road is long. But we are happy to start this new
journey".
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