The film was selected over 13 other Italian films by a committee at the Italian National Association of Film, Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries (ANICA) on Tuesday.
The official list of films nominated for the award is set to be announced on January 23 ahead of the ceremony in Los Angeles on March 4.
Co-produced by Martin Scorsese, the film focuses on a Roma community in the Calabrian coastal town of Gioia Tauro, and follows a story of crime and deep family ties.
It centres on a 14-year-old Roma boy Pio, played by the young Pio Amato, with the rest of his family acting alongside him.
The film was presented in the Cannes Film Festival's Quinzaine des Realisateurs section, where it won the Europa Cinema Label, and has been in cinemas since August 31.
Carpignano, 33, is reported to have celebrated the nomination by drinking and dancing the tarantella with friends.
“Martin Scorsese congratulated me. He is rooting for me and we hope that this helps this film on its long road ahead, which has only just begun,” Carpignano said.
‘A Ciambra’ is the second film by Carpignano, whose mother was born in New York and raised in Barbados, and whose father hails from the Italian capital.
With ANSA
