At the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Father & Soldier will premiere this year's Un Certain Regard sidebar.
The period drama, directed by first-time director Mathieu Vadepied, follows WWI's forgotten heroes: the Senegalese infantrymen who were forced to leave their homeland and fight to liberate France. Sy plays Bakary Diallo, a father who enlisted in the French army in 1917 to join his 17-year-old son Thierno, who was drafted against his will.
Father and son have to endure the war together. Alassane Diong and Jonas Bloquet have co-started. Sy provided Father & Soldier as a co-producer. Vadepied also developed the war drama with Olivier Demangel.
On May 18, the Franco-Senegalese collaboration from Unite and Korokoro will launch the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes. Gaumont will play the film theatrically in France, where it is also handling sales.
The Un Certain Regard section, which is expected to be Cannes' top sidebar, will be available until May 27. Agnieszka Smocynska's The Silent Twins, directed by Jodhi May, and Beast, is among the films she has chosen, including the directorial debut of Riley Koeugh, co-directed by Gina Gammell.
