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Souleymane's Story (French: L'Histoire de Souleymane), previously titled The Story of Souleymane,[2] is a 2024 French film directed by Boris Lojkine from a script he wrote with Delphine Agut. The film stars Abou Sangare as Souleymane, an immigrant from Guinea working for a food delivery service in Paris.[3]
| Souleymane's Story | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| French | L'Histoire de Souleymane |
| Directed by | Boris Lojkine |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Bruno Nahon |
| Starring | Abou Sangare |
| Cinematography | Tristan Galand |
| Edited by | Xavier Sirven |
Production company | Unité |
| Distributed by | Pyramide Distribution |
Release dates | |
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Languages | French Fula Malinka |
The film had its world premiere at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival,[4] where it won the Jury Prize and the Performance Prize.[5]
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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 bicycle.[6]
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 Sangare, was identified during an open casting call conducted as part of this research. Sangare had immigrated to France seven years prior to casting, while he was still a teenager.[7]
Scenes in which Souleymane delivered food on his bicycle were filmed by a cameraman riding a bicycle alongside the actor.[8]
To write the final 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).[7]
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Souleymane's Story had its world premiere at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival,[4] where it won the Jury Prize and the Performance Prize,[5] and the FIPRESCI Prize for the Un Certain Regard section.
Pyramide Distribution released the film in French cinemas on 9 October 2024.[9]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10.[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]
Accolades
| Award | Ceremony date | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue International Film Festival | 2024 | Médiafilm Robert-Claude Bérubé Prize | Souleymane's Story | Won | [12] |
| Cannes Film Festival | 25 May 2024[a] | Prix Un Certain Regard | Nominated | [6] | |
| Un Certain Regard – Jury Prize | Won | [14] | |||
| Un Certain Regard – Best Performance[b] | Abou Sangare | Won | |||
| FIPRESCI Prize | Souleymane's Story | Won | [15] | ||
| European Film Awards | 7 December 2024 | European Actor | Abou Sangare | Won | [16] |
| European Sound | Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aïchoun, Rodrigo Diaz | Won | |||
| Louis Delluc Prize | 4 December 2024 | Best Film | Souleymane's Story | Nominated | [17] |
| Lumière Awards | 20 January 2025 | Best Film | Pending | [18] | |
| Best Director | Boris Lojkine | Pending | |||
| Best Screenplay | Boris Lojkine and Delphine Agut | Pending | |||
| Best Actor | Abou Sangare | Pending | |||
| Best Cinematography | Tristan Galand | Pending |
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- The award ceremony of Un Certain Regard was held on 24 May 2024.[13]
- Shared with Anasuya Sengupta for The Shameless.
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