Souleymane's Story

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Boris Lojkine directs. Tristan Galand behind the camera. Xavier Sirven cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in English, French, Fulah, Turkish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 2 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, French, Fulah, Turkish.
• 3Directed by Boris Lojkine, shot by Tristan Galand. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Editor Xavier Sirven shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Abou Sangare and Nina Meurisse and Alpha Oumar Sow carry the top of the cast.
• 6IMDB entry: tt32086046 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 7Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Tristan Galand

Editing

Xavier Sirven

Production design

Géraldine Stivet

Costume design

Marine Peyraud

Makeup / hair

Sandrine Denis

Sound

Samuel Aïchoun

Runtime

94 min · 1h 34m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$4,399,858

Original language

FR

IMDB

Souleymane's Story (2024) ↗

Also by

Boris Lojkine

• 
  Camille

  2019 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Hope

  2014 · ★ 5.9
• 
  Les âmes errantes

  2007

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer [Subtitled]

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Brent Marchant2025-09-14
  ★ 7/10

  Are there times when telling the truth is not necessarily the wisest course to follow in getting what you want? Some might say, somewhat self-righteously, never. However, for those faced with potentially problematic circumstances, that might not be the case. Such is the conundrum faced by Guinean immigrant Souleymane Sangaré (Abou Sangare), who relocates to France to escape the many hardships in his African homeland. He hopes to secure a permanent new home for himself by seeking asylum from Guinean political persecution, a designation that would earn him the protections of French authorities. There’s just one problem with his story: It’s not true. That’s not to suggest that he’s not fleeing many ordeals back home, but there’s no guarantee that they would qualify him to stay in France, no matter how problematic they might be. Hence the asylum ruse, a plan he seeks to perpetrate with the aid of Barry (Alpha Oumar Sow), an expensive (some would say extortionist) social worker/asylum broker playing on (and profiting from) Souleymane’s fears and desperation. Barry supplies his client (like many others with whom he “does business”) with phony asylum documents and an allegedly convincing personal story that he can tell to French authorities during an official interview with a government case worker (Nina Meurisse) to determine his eligibility. While preparing for his meeting with officials, Souleymane works (illegally) as a food delivery courier with the assistance of a shady associate, Emmanuel (Emmanuel Yovanie), who “rents” him fraudulent work credentials that allow him to earn money off the books, a scenario fraught with complications as he bicycles through the streets of Paris. Through this experience, viewers witness the many challenges that immigrants/asylum seekers face when trying to land a new home for themselves far away from their roots. These include numerous bureaucratic nightmares, unbridled prejudice, ubiquitous swindlers, and the frustration of being unable to do virtually anything in addressing difficulties back home, such as handling family health matters and coping with separation from loved ones like Souleymane’s fiancée (Keita Dalo). Writer-director Boris Lojkine’s latest feature outing tells an involving dramatic tale that captured three top honors at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, including the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, the Un Certain Regard Best Actor Award (Sangare) and the FIPRESCI Prize, among numerous other honors and nominations at other events and awards competitions. This is made possible in large part by the picture’s fine performances, as well as its atmospheric cinematography and skillful film editing, both of which show off sides of the City of Lights not often seen. There’s also a strong degree of authenticity pervading the narrative, bringing an insightful and profound level of credibility to the story. However, these assets aside, there are times when the film focuses a little too much on the setup preparation for the main event (the interview), along with a sometimes-excessive reliance on depictions of Souleymane’s workaday life, while sacrificing greater depth into the protagonist’s character development and back story. More emphasis in these key areas undoubtedly would have added more substance to the finished product, not only giving viewers a more complete picture of its lead, but also likely generating a deeper sense of empathy for his situation. As it stands now, “Souleymane’s Story” is certainly a solid offering, but, with some tweaking in these other regards, it could have elevated this release to the truly outstanding level that it might have otherwise attained.

  Read full review ↓
• Brent Marchant2025-09-14
  ★ 7/10

  Are there times when telling the truth is not necessarily the wisest course to follow in getting what you want? Some might say, somewhat self-righteously, never. However, for those faced with potentially problematic circumstances, that might not be the case. Such is the conundrum faced by Guinean immigrant Souleymane Sangaré (Abou Sangare), who relocates to France to escape the many hardships in his African homeland. He hopes to secure a permanent new home for himself by seeking asylum from Guinean political persecution, a designation that would earn him the protections of French authorities. There’s just one problem with his story: It’s not true. That’s not to suggest that he’s not fleeing many ordeals back home, but there’s no guarantee that they would qualify him to stay in France, no matter how problematic they might be. Hence the asylum ruse, a plan he seeks to perpetrate with the aid of Barry (Alpha Oumar Sow), an expensive (some would say extortionist) social worker/asylum broker playing on (and profiting from) Souleymane’s fears and desperation. Barry supplies his client (like many others with whom he “does business”) with phony asylum documents and an allegedly convincing personal story that he can tell to French authorities during an official interview with a government case worker (Nina Meurisse) to determine his eligibility. While preparing for his meeting with officials, Souleymane works (illegally) as a food delivery courier with the assistance of a shady associate, Emmanuel (Emmanuel Yovanie), who “rents” him fraudulent work credentials that allow him to earn money off the books, a scenario fraught with complications as he bicycles through the streets of Paris. Through this experience, viewers witness the many challenges that immigrants/asylum seekers face when trying to land a new home for themselves far away from their roots. These include numerous bureaucratic nightmares, unbridled prejudice, ubiquitous swindlers, and the frustration of being unable to do virtually anything in addressing difficulties back home, such as handling family health matters and coping with separation from loved ones like Spuleymane’s fiancée (Keita Dalo). Writer-director Boris Lojkine’s latest feature outing tells an involving dramatic tale that captured three top honors at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, including the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, the Un Certain Regard Best Actor Award (Sangare) and the FIPRESCI Prize, among numerous other honors and nominations at other events and awards competitions. This is made possible in large part by the picture’s fine performances, as well as its atmospheric cinematography and skillful film editing, both of which show off sides of the City of Lights not often seen. There’s also a strong degree of authenticity pervading the narrative, bringing an insightful and profound level of credibility to the story. However, these assets aside, there are times when the film focuses a little too much on the setup preparation for the main event (the interview), along with a sometimes-excessive reliance on depictions of Souleymane’s workaday life, while sacrificing greater depth into the protagonist’s character development and back story. More emphasis in these key areas undoubtedly would have added more substance to the finished product, not only giving viewers a more complete picture of its lead, but also likely generating a deeper sense of empathy for his situation. As it stands now, “Souleymane’s Story” is certainly a solid offering, but, with some tweaking in these other regards, it could have elevated this release to the truly outstanding level that it might have otherwise attained.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  UNITÉ

  FR

Key crew

• ProducerBruno Nahon
• EditorXavier Sirven
• Costume DesignMarine Peyraud
• Key Makeup ArtistSandrine Denis
• Post Production SupervisorRomain Gaillard
• Post-Production ManagerAstrid Lecardonnel
• First Assistant DirectorVincent Prades
• Sound Re-Recording MixerSamuel Aïchoun
• Sound EditorPierre Bariaud
• Sound EditorMarc-Olivier Brullé
• Sound MixerMarc-Olivier Brullé
• Sound EditorCharlotte Butrak
• Digital CompositorPiotr Smorawski
• GafferFlorian Gomez
• Key GripJonathan Ly
• ElectricianCamille Prost
• First Assistant CameraHaruyo Yokota
• Extras CastingRaphaëlle Beck
• First Assistant EditorAlexia Morel
• Location ScoutGwenaëlle Duriaud
• ElectricianMathieu Bernardin
• Boom OperatorRodrigo Díaz
• Associate ProducerThomas Morvan
• ProducerAnne-Hélène Peslerbe

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• illegal immigration
• homelessness
• working immigrants
• worker exploitation

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2025-08-08

Also known as

International titles

• The Story of SouleymaneUS
• הסיפור של סולימאןIL
• The Story of SouleymaneAU
• 술레이만 이야기KR
• Souleymanes GeschichteAT
• Souleymane's StoryDK
• Souleymane's StoryDE
• Souleymane's StoryIE
• L'histoire de SouleymaneJP
• 借來的人生故事TW
• Süleyman'ın HikayesiTR
• Souleymans GeschichteDE