The Story of Souleymane

One of the year’s finest and most vital French films, and the winner of three prestigious awards at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Boris Lojkine’s vivid and compassionate new drama follows a young courier as he races across Paris whilst preparing for a life-changing residency interview.

Food delivery workers have become an indispensable part of city life, especially since the pandemic. Among them is Souleymane (Abou Sangaré, in a commanding debut), who criss-crosses the frenetic Parisian streets morning to night, in a constant race against the clock. He, like many around him, is working without permission, ‘renting’ his identity from a friend with legal status. But in just two days, Souleymane will learn whether his own asylum application will be approved or not. So whilst striving to meet his delivery platform’s demands, he nervously practices for his interview, trying to keep his growing anxiety at bay…

A social-realist thriller as humanist as it is propulsive, former philosophy professor Lojkine’s masterfully-crafted drama echoes not only Bicycle Thieves and the best films of the Dardennes, but also edge-of-your-seat thrillers such as Uncut Gems and Full Time. Only adding to the film’s immense power is the real-life situation of its remarkable lead, who has already been denied citizenship by French authorities. Three times.  

A major word of mouth hit at the French box office that became a national talking point, THE STORY OF SOULEYMANE is essential viewing.