Souleymane’s Story was one of the most highly regarded movies of 2024.
It won the Jury Prize and the lead actor, Abou Sangaré, won the Performance Prize in the Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes–the highly prestigious film festival. The movie went on to win multiple César Awards, European Film Awards, and Sangaré snagged another win at the Lumiere Awards this January. Moreover, to use the metric that most audience members care about these days, the film boasts a perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.
So, how come you’ve never heard of it?
Well, that is because the film premiered in October 2024 in France but is only having its much-anticipated U.S. release this month. It opens at the IFC theater in New York CIty on Aug. 1 and Laemmle Royal in LA on Aug. 8. I advise you not to miss it.
Compared to the punchy, societally-critical Two Days, One Night (2017), Souleymane’s Story follows the life of Souleymane, a Guinean immigrant in Paris, while he prepares for his asylum application interview and delivers meals on his bike to make ends meet. He has to claw for the meager life he has put together for himself, living deadline by deadline and constantly on the line of poverty. The film is a raw and honest look at the lives of immigrants without papers in the bustling metropolis of Paris. They live in a constant state of anxiety that any second they could be thrown out of the country, and their precarious situation is exploited by those around them.
Filled with a sense of urgency and dread, the film has been a critical favourite and hotly anticipated by audiences. Abou Sangaré’s performance has been particularly praised, doubly impressive considering that he is not a professional actor and this is his first major role. Arriving in France from Guinea at just 16 years old, Sangaré can relate to much of Souleymane’s journey. He was discovered by the director, Boris Lojkine, at an open casting call and was immediately selected as the one who could best embody Souleymane. Working previously as a mechanic in the city of Amiens, this project helped Sangaré finally secure permanent residency in the country, a fitting parallel to the harsh consequences of immigration laws shown in the film itself.
Boris Lojkine is no stranger to Cannes. His debut film, Hope, opened at the festival in 2014. This is his first nomination for the festival, however, and it seems well-deserved. The well-written and deftly constructed screenplay he co-wrote with Delphine Augut is brought to life with dynamic camerawork that makes you truly feel a part of Souleymane’s claustrophobic life.
The many skilled artists who worked on this film can rest easy knowing that it will be receiving the international and online praise it deserves sooner rather than later. I urge everybody to try to watch the film in theaters when it becomes available. You don’t want to miss any part of Souleymane’s Story.