TED PEDAS AWARD, VOILA CINEMA!

Souleymane's Story

L'histoire de Souleymane

BORIS LOJKINE
France, 2024
92 minutes, Color

Winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and the Performance Prize at Cannes, this film is a topical and emotionally immersive portrait of a young man whose story is simultaneously singular yet shared by the many undocumented laborers whom urban centers rely on yet constantly seek to restrict. Souleymane is a Guinean immigrant in Paris whose every waking second is spent fighting against the clock; working as a delivery driver to make his quota, getting back in time to secure a bed at the shelter, filling out paperwork on a deadline as he tries desperately to get asylum. Over the span of two days, Souleymane struggles to stay afloat while preparing for his crucial immigration asylum interview. First-time actor Abou Sangare gives a commanding performance, radiant in its vulnerability and empathy and culminating in the emotionally raw scene of the interview that will ultimately decide Souleymane's fate.—Various sources

In French with English subtitles