'Souleymane's Story': Award-winning Guinean actor Abou Sangaré granted visa to remain in France

A 23-year-old Guinean actor who won two awards at Cannes has been granted a visa to stay in France.

Abou Sangaré played the lead role in 2024’s Souleymane’s Story, a film about a Guinean migrant preparing for his asylum application while working as a delivery man in Paris. It was critically acclaimed and won the Jury Prize and Sangaré won the Performance Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.

Life imitates art in the case of Souleymane’s Story as Sangaré has also struggled to gain residency in France. This week, after three prior unsuccessful requests for work visas put him subject to a deportation order, Sangaré has been granted a one year permit.

To stay in France, Sangaré is putting his acting career on hold to focus on a new job as a mechanic. “There might be offers but I'm a mechanic, that's my trade,” he told French newspaper Libération. “I can't wait to start working in the garage.”

Sangaré’s journey to France began when he left Guinea at the age of 15 in 2016 to support his ailing mother. His path took him through Algeria and Libya, where he was imprisoned after a failed attempt to cross the Mediterranean. After reaching Italy, he finally arrived in France in May 2017.

Despite his efforts to be recognised as a minor being denied, Sangaré persevered. He enrolled in high school and eventually trained as a car mechanic – a sought-after skill in France.

Last year, Sangaré crossed paths with filmmaker Boris Lojkine. After several auditions, he landed the lead role in Souleymane’s Story.

“When we chose Sangaré to play the main role in the film, it was a big responsibility,” Lojkine said. “It's only when he has his papers that I will feel like I have finished my film.”

The success of Souleymane’s Story comes at a pivotal moment in France, when the new government is taking a harder line on irregular migration – pledging to make it more difficult for immigrants without permanent legal status to remain, and easier for France to deport them.

“We are the country in Europe that produces (the) most expulsion procedures, far ahead of other countries,” said Serge Slama, a professor in public law at the University of Grenoble, remarking on the more than 130,000 deportations ordered in 2023.