Thus far, the 2020s have confirmed that nationalist narratives are nonetheless highly effective sufficient to rally the plenty into treating these on the backside of the social hierarchy with contempt, demonising those that flee their dwelling international locations to hunt a extra dignified life. Migrant employees working as supply drivers are sometimes those bearing the brunt of this. Comfort is king, and with the rising Uber Eats-ification of cities, supply drivers have turn into a hyper-visible goal and a handy scapegoat for disillusioned Europeans.
That is the up to date actuality that Boris Lojkine’s sobering work of social realism unfolds in, however the place many such narratives function migrants dealing with abuse at each flip, Souleymane Sangaré, an undocumented Guinean migrant dwelling in Paris, is recurrently met with kindness. With empathetic but unsentimental means, Lojkine gracefully explores each the insurmountable pressures of the asylum-granting system and the precarious circumstances of the gig financial system. With 48 hours to memorise the fabricated lies he’s been advised the authorities wish to hear so as to grant him a residence allow, Souleymane rehearses his story beat by beat as he speeds via the Parisian streets on his bike. The tight framing ensures we by no means lose focus of the nervousness gnawing away at him, whereas small gestures of humanity are balanced in opposition to the harshest measures our punitive society can impose.
