Film No. 28 (2025) April 9th. 11.00 AM LUNA CINEMA, Cinema 1, Leederville.
"Mr Sangare, I'm here to listen to you. It's your own story." (I'agente de l'OFPRA pleads with Souleymane to tell his story to her, so that he might stand a better chance of becoming a French citizen).
WINNER: Un Certain Regard (Boris Lojkine) Cannes FF (2024).
"Art imitating life" is a term used freely in the world of cinema, but is there a better example, in cinemas' right now, than THE STORY OF SOULEYMANE (STORY), the crowd stopper at Cannes in 2024? I think not!
Director Boris Lojking (HOPE, CAMILLE) continues his trajectory in telling stories about brave souls escaping a 3rd world existence for a better life. In STORY we get more of the same. Here, he has combined the real life plight of his lead actor, Abou Sangare, with a fictional character, Souleymane (Sangare). We spend most of the film following Souleymane on his electric bike as he delivers food from door to door as he tries to eek out a living. He lives "hand to foot". He rents an identity so he can work, earning just enough to pay for ID and mentoring (lessons on precuring citizenship). It's a tense watch. We try to hold hope for Souleymane. He is unendingly trying to meet deadlines he could keep if it weren't for hurdles our of his control. Sangare is brilliant. Perhaps his brilliance stems from the fact that in real life his citizenship application has been rejected 3 times so far.
"It's only when he has his papers will I feel I have completed the film", (https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/10/14/why-is-guinean-film-star-abou-sangares-story-bringing-french-division-over-immigration-to-) commented Lojking as he accepted the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes. He may only have months to wait. Abou only needs to complete 6 further months as a mechanic to fulfil his obligation to the French authorities. Then back to acting, maybe! 10GUMS.
!
No comments:
Post a Comment