The Story of Souleymane

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The Story of Souleymane
French L'histoire de Souleymane
Directed by Boris Lojkine
Screenplay by
  • Boris Lojkine
  • Delphine Agut
Produced byBruno Nahon
StarringAbou Sangare
CinematographyTristan Galand
Edited byXavier Sirven
Production
company
Unité
Distributed byPyramide Distribution
Release dates
  • 19 May 2024 (2024-May-19)(Cannes) [1]
  • 9 October 2024 (2024-10-09)(France)
Running time
93 minutes
Country France

The Story of Souleymane (French : L'histoire de Souleymane) is a 2024 French film written and directed by Boris Lojkine in his feature-length debut. The film stars Abou Sangare as Souleymane, an immigrant from Guinea working for a food delivery service in Paris. [2]

Contents

Premise

The Story of Souleymane follows Souleymane, (Sangare), 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. [3]

Cast

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 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. [4]

Scenes in which Souleymane delivered food on his bicycle were filmed by a cameraman riding a bicycle alongside the actor. [5]

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). [4]

Release

The Story of Souleymane debuted in the Un Certain Regard portion of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. [6]

Pyramide Distribution is scheduled to theatrically release the film in France on 9 October 2024. [7]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. [8] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [9]

Accolades

AwardCeremony dateCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Cannes Film Festival 24 May 2024 Un Certain Regard The Story of SouleymaneNominated [3]
Un Certain Regard – Jury PrizeWon [10]
Un Certain Regard – Best Performance [lower-alpha 1] Abou SangareWon
25 May 2024 FIPRESCI Prize The Story of SouleymaneWon [11]

Notes

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References

  1. Fulton, Claire. "The Story of Souleymane Review: Asylum Drama". Loud and Clear Reviews. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  2. Desbois, Erwan. "Cannes 2024 review: The Story of Souleymane (Boris Lojkine)". International Cinephile Society. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 "L'Histoire de Souleymane". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Story of Souleymane" (PDF). Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  5. Durand, Manon. "L'histoire de Souleymane, the vision of Boris Lojkine". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  6. "The films of the Official Selection 2024". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  7. "Les distributeurs ajustent leurs line-ups". Boxoffice Pro (in French). 7 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  8. "The Story of Souleymane". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  9. "The Story of Souleymane". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  10. Lodge, Guy (24 May 2023). "Cannes Film Festival: 'Black Dog' Wins Un Certain Regard Award". Variety . Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  11. Balaga, Marta (25 May 2024). "Mohammad Rasoulof's 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' Wins Fipresci Award at Cannes: 'A Courageous Story'". Variety . Retrieved 25 May 2024.