Souleymane's Story (L’Histoire de Souleymane),directed by Boris Lojkine, is anchored by the powerful performance of Abou Sangaré as a delivery worker from Guinea who is seeking asylum in France. What begins as a story of daily survival becomes a story about the legal and administrative processes governing asylum and the often fragile line between recognition and rejection. The film foregrounds questions of identity, performance, and translation, as Souleymane must shape his story to fit the expectations of the asylum system. More broadly, the film invites reflection on the gap between lived experience and legal categories—as well as what gets lost when human stories are filtered through bureaucratic judgment. The guest for this episode is Sharon Weill, who serves as Professor of International Law at the American University of Paris and teaches at Sciences Po in Paris.
Time stamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:26 An urban story of 48 hours in a migrant’s life
9:45 Migrant housing
12:47 Separation from home
14:38 The legal categories of asylum
20:38 The asylum hearing
25:10 Souleymane tells his story and closes the door
29:32 Enforcement of immigration law
34:37 Abou Sangaré: the actor who plays Souleymane
37:08 The appeals process and limits on asylum
44:15 Giving a human face to migration
Further reading:
Akoka, Karen, Asylum and Exile: A History of the Refugee/Migrant Distinction (Éditions La Découverte, 2020)
Carpentier, Laurent, "Cannes 2024: Life imitates art for the star of ''L'Histoire de Souleymane,'" The Guardian (May 16, 2024)
Chang, Justin, "The Piercing Immigrant Drama of 'Souleymane's Story,'" The New Yorker (Aug. 6, 2025)
Dezalay, Sara & Weill, Sharon, Asylum Justice: Between Crisis and Crisis Routine: An Ethnography of the National Court of Asylum Law (June 17, 2026)
Kobelinsky, Carolina, The Reception of Asylum Seekers: An Ethnography of Waiting (Éditions du Cygne, 2010)
Lemercier, Fabian, "Interview with Boris Lojkine, Director of 'Souleymane's Story,'" Cineuropa (May 21, 2024)
Weill, Sharon et al., Terror on Trial: An Ethnography of French Courts (2026)
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