L'histoire de Souleymane
After a perilous journey, Souleymane from Guinea eventually ended up in Paris. There he makes a living as a meal delivery boy. But he is a ‘sans papiers’, someone who is living in France illegally and therefore cannot actually earn any money there. What he earns goes first to a Guinean, who does have the right papers, and the latter pays him. Of course, this countryman does not do this for nothing. As he rushes through the busy streets of Paris on his bicycle, Souleymane prepares for the important interview he has to have with the Immigration Department. He has learned a good story, but it is not his story.
Director Boris Lojkine once started out as a documentary filmmaker and this is well reflected in this drama that shows in a very documentary manner what an ‘illegal’ has to endure. Almost all the roles are played by non-professional actors; Souleymane, for instance, is played by Abou Sangare, a car mechanic from Guinea, now legally residing in France.
