THE STORY OF SOULEYMANE

FOUR STARS A young asylum seeker hopes to get the right to work in Paris. For now, he's delivering food.

DRAMA FRANCE French #SOULEYMANE Starring Abou Sangare, Alpha Oumar Sow

Bike deliveries have become ubiquitous with the urban landscape - dropping drinks, meals and pizzas cities wide. Yet behind every bike is a person and interactions with the drivers are seldom more than a polite ‘thank you’ or a grumpy ‘get off the footpath!’ What happens around those exchanges is THE STORY OF SOULEYMANE, a poignant exploration of the immigrant experience in contemporary Paris. Souleymane is a young Guinean who, over 36 hours, simultaneously navigates the wet streets of Paris as a food delivery driver, and its bureaucratic labyrinth in the hope of winning asylum. 

Boris Lojkine’s direction is both intimate and unflinching, employing a documentary-style realism that immerses viewers in the man’s daily struggles: earning enough to live, finding something to eat, somewhere to sleep. Souleymane is quite literally living hand to mouth, joining hundreds of others reliant on the city’s food and shelter programmes while an indifferent algorithm keeps him at the bottom of the gig-economy.

The cinematography is raw and immersive, adding a visceral immediacy to the narrative. It’s a watch-through-the-fingers experience, especially in the first half, anticipating the traffic accident that’s bound to happen. We know how these people drive, right? Lojkine’s commitment to authenticity is underscored by the powerful performance of non-professional actor Abou Sangaré in the lead role, his own experiences as an immigrant blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

Lojkine refrains from overt political commentary, letting the film subtly critique systemic exploitation of immigrant communities, highlighting issues such as wage theft and the commodification of cornered asylum seekers. While racism hangs quietly in the background this doesn’t give in to obvious tropes and stereotypes, it’s a much more forgiving film. An encounter with police is sympathetic, the man providing Souleymane with fake documents is in it for the money but helps where he can. The woman assessing his case gives Souleymane a chance to start again when it becomes clear he’s been coached. “I heard this same story twice last week,” she chastises him. They all bring colour to a black and white world.

One of the film’s most moving scenes shows Souleymane, already under the clock, pausing to help an old man who lives alone, and the only customer tho stops to ask him where he’s from. The man may be curious or senile, and the indeterminacy is yet another sadness in this brutally honest depiction of a migrant’s life. A critical darling (THE STORY OF SOULEYMANE won the Jury Prize and Best Performance in the Un Certain Regard at Cannes ’24), scenes like that accounts for its well-earned audience affection.

This is a compelling and compassionate film that sheds light on the often-overlooked realities of immigrant life. Through powerful storytelling and performance it invites you to engage with the human behind the headlines, offering a sobering yet empathetic perspective on a pressing global issue. Remember that next time a delivery bike scares you on the footpath, or pizza is delivered to your door. Immigration - we’re all part of the story.

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