CHICAGO PREMIERE

Souleymane (Abou Sangaré), an undocumented immigrant from Guinea, navigates the hectic streets of Paris over the course of two days in Souleymane’s Story, a remarkable film that focuses on the humanity behind the headlines.  

Working as a bike courier, he races to complete food deliveries while preparing for a critical asylum interview. Part of an informal network of couriers renting verified app accounts, Souleymane pushes through long hours, balancing the rigid curfews of the immigrant shelter where he stays, the demands of the delivery algorithm, and fleeting phone calls to his girlfriend back home. Amid this grind, he struggles to gather the required documents and pay his overworked immigration broker, all while trying to memorize the carefully crafted version of his asylum story. Yet even under pressure, Souleymane’s warmth and humanity shine through, in quick exchanges with fellow riders, a kind gesture toward an elderly customer, or a quiet connection with a kebab vendor.  

First-time actor Abou Sangare (an immigrant from Guinea who was working as a mechanic when he was discovered during an open casting call) delivers a breakout performance, earning the Un Certain Regard Best Actor prize at Cannes and the César (equivalent to the Oscar) for most Promising Actor and his portrayal is a mix of vulnerability, resolve, and emotional depth that culminates in a gripping asylum interview scene.  

Blending the social realism of classic issue-driven dramas with the taut momentum of a thriller, filmmaker Boris Lojkine (Hope, Camille) delivers an urgent, emotionally resonant portrait of a young man caught in a system that both depends on and marginalizes him, a story both deeply personal and widely shared by the undocumented workers in a deeply affecting account of the daily trials and uncertain futures faced by migrants in France and around the world.