Souleymane's Story (), previously titled The Story of Souleymane, is a 2024 French film directed by Boris Lojkine from a script he wrote with Delphine Agut. The film stars Abou Sangaré as Souleymane, an immigrant from Guinea working for a food delivery service in Paris.
The film had its world premiere at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and the Performance Prize. It received eight nominations at the 50th César Awards, including Best Film, and won four awards: Best Supporting Actress (for Nina Meurisse), Best Male Revelation (for Sangaré), Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing.
Premise Souleymane's Story follows Souleymane, a recent Guinean immigrant, through the streets of Paris as he prepares for his asylum application interview while working for a meal delivery service on his e-bike.
The themes revolve around the exploitation of the sans papiers (without papers), often by fellow Africans - one a fellow immigrant from northern Guinea who lazily coaches asylum applicants to recite false stories of political persecution at their hearings in return for payment, and another who lends Souleymane a food delivery account but then takes half of his earnings every week. The film largely avoids depictions of racism but equally, there are few acts of kindness in the film.
Cast Abou Sangaré as Souleymane Nina Meurisse as the OFPRA agent Alpha Oumar Sow as Barry Emmanuel Yovanie as Emmanuel Younoussa Diallo as Khalil Ghislain Mahan as Ghislain Mamadou Barry as Mamadou Yaya Diallo as Yaya Keita Diallo as Kadiatou
Production While developing the film, Lojkine and casting director Aline Dalbis consulted with food delivery workers in Paris to learn about the challenges they faced and got to know members of the city's Guinean immigrant community. The film's star, Abou Sangaré, was identified during an open casting call conducted as part of this research. He had no acting experience. Sangaré had immigrated to France seven years prior to casting, while he was still a teenager, and his personal story was incorporated into the film's narrative. He works as a heavy truck mechanic in Amiens and it was this acting role that helped Sangaré secure permanent residency in France.
Scenes in which Souleymane delivered food on his bicycle were filmed by a cameraman riding a bicycle alongside the actor.
To write the final asylum interview scene, the filmmakers gathered input from Guinean asylum seekers and sat in on interviews conducted by OFPRA (the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons).
Release Souleymane's Story had its world premiere at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and the Performance Prize, and the FIPRESCI Prize for the Un Certain Regard section.
Pyramide Distribution released the film in French cinemas on 9 October 2024.
Reception
Critical response Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Accolades Award Ceremony date Category Recipient(s) Result Abitibi-Témiscamingue International Film Festival 2024 Médiafilm Robert-Claude Bérubé Prize Souleymane's Story Marie-Hélène Paquin, "Prodigieuses remporte les honneurs au Festival du cinéma international". Ici Radio-Canada Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 1 November 2024. Cannes Film Festival 25 May 2024 Prix Un Certain Regard Un Certain Regard – Jury Prize Un Certain Regard – Best Performance Abou Sangaré FIPRESCI Prize Souleymane's Story César Awards28 February 2025 Best Film Best Director Boris Lojkine Best Supporting Actress Nina Meurisse Best Male Revelation Abou Sangaré Best Original Screenplay Boris Lojkine and Delphine Agut Best Cinematography Tristan Galand Best Editing Xavier Sirven Best Sound Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak and Samuel Aïchoun European Film Awards 7 December 2024 European Actor Abou Sangaré European Sound Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aïchoun, Rodrigo Diaz Gotham Awards 1 December 2025Breakthrough PerformerAbou Sangaré Louis Delluc Prize 4 December 2024 Best Film Souleymane's Story Lumière Awards 20 January 2025 Best Film Best Director Boris Lojkine Best Screenplay Boris Lojkine and Delphine Agut Best Actor Abou Sangaré Best Cinematography Tristan Galand
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