Souleymane’s Story
Description
Meet Souleymane, an undocumented Guinean immigrant in France striving to build a new life and apply for asylum. To earn money Souleymane’s rents a verified UberEats account from another employee, a frequent option for new arrivals. Weaving through the streets of Paris, Souleymane’s history unfolds in waves, its details revealed between the crushing countdown of the delivery clock, unpredictable weather, and frustrated customers. Despite his circumstances, Souleymane’s innate kindness shines through as he finds moments of levity and connection with his sheltermates, street vendors, and fellow delivery drivers. Boris Lojkine’s moody and propulsive film plays like a thriller, steadily laying out the mountain of obstacles Souleymane confronts as he desperately strives to make the right choices. The film is a stunning digest of a life lived in the shadows with a revelatory central performance from first-time, non-professional actor Abou Sangare (winner of Un Certain Regard Best Actor at Cannes). —Jessie Fairbanks
Biographies
Boris Lojkine studied at Ecole Normale Supérieure before teaching philosophy at Aix-Marseille University. He began his filmmaking career with a pair of documentaries shot in Vietnam, Ceux qui restent (2001) and Les Âmes errantes (2005). His first narrative feature, Hope (2014), won the Cannes Film Festival’s SACD Awardd and Grand Golden Rail. His second feature, Camille (2019), garnered the audience award at the Locarno Film Festival. Souleymane’s Story is his third feature and won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.