Italy has picked Paolo Sorrentino’s autobiographical drama The Hand of God to represent the country at the 2022 Oscars in the best international film category. Produced by Fremantle’s Italian subsidiary The Apartment for Netflix, Sorrentino’s film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the runner-up grand jury prize and lead Filippo Scotti took the Marcello Mastroianni award for best young actor.

Newcomer Scotti plays Fabietto, a young man loosely based on Sorrentino, growing up in Naples in the late 1980s and dreaming of becoming a filmmaker. The film’s title refers to a notorious goal by Diego Maradona, the legendary soccer player who played for local squad S.S.C Napoli and became an iconic figure for the city.