‘Non Essere Cattivo’ Chosen To Represent Italy At The Oscars

It was a 5-4 vote and in second place, Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre.

Posthumous recognition for Claudio Caligari’s ‘Non Essere Cattivo’ (Don’t Be Bad), who died in May. His film will represent Italy, hoping for an Academy Award nomination.

Caligari, who directed just three feature films in his nearly forty-year career (Amore Tossico, L’Odore Della Notte, and this one), gave us, literally with his last breath, a story of Ostia in the ’90s and friends for life (and for death) who live in a dismal world of drugs and crime. It stars Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Roberta Mattei, and Silvia D’Amico.

The other films submitted for consideration were Il Giovane Favoloso, Latin Lover, L’Attesa, Mia Madre, Nessuno Si Salva Da Solo, Per Amor Vostro, Sangue Del Mio Sangue and Vergine Girata. Mia Madre got the second most votes.

Non Essere Cattivo will compete against Austria’s Goodnight Mommy, Belgium’s The Brand New Testament, China’s The Last Wolf, Croatia’s The High Sun, Denmark’s A War, France’s Mustang, Greece’s Xenia, Germany’s Labyrinth of Lies, Luxembourg’s Baby(A)lone, Portugal’s Arabian Nights, Romania’s Aferim!, Russia’s Sunstroke, Switzerland’s A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence and Hungary’s Son of Saul.

The nominations will be announced in January.