Migration Matters hosted the second evening of its three-part Migration Matters Film & Talk Series on December 4, this time dedicated to the theme STAYING. The event, held at the sold-out Rollberg Kino in Berlin-Neukölln, invited audiences to engage with questions of belonging, solidarity, and the conditions that determine who is allowed to remain in Europe. Once again, the evening combined a film screening with reflections from expert researchers, followed by space for audience discussion.
The night’s feature film, L’histoire de Souleymane, offered a powerful entry point into the realities of migrant life in European cities. The film follows Souleymane, a young man who has left Guinea and is trying to build a future in France without official documents. Working as a bicycle courier under precarious conditions, he races through Paris day and night, borrowing identities just to access work and sleeping in emergency shelters. All the while, a decisive moment looms: his asylum interview in 48 hours. What he shares in that interview — the narrative he presents about his past — will determine whether he is granted protection or deported.
Through three intense days of his life, the film depicts the harshness of arrival, the dependency on the gig economy, and the struggle to stay — experiences that mirror those of many migrants across Europe. Lead actor Abou Sangaré, himself an undocumented migrant, delivers an extraordinary performance that earned him major awards at both the Cannes Film Festival and the European Film Awards.
From left: Bernadette Klausberger (Migration Matters) Prof. Manuela Bojadžijev (Berlin Institute for Migration Research), Aju John (Activist/Researcher), Sophia Burton (Migration Matters)
Before the screening, attendees heard a welcome from Bernadette Klausberger (Migration Matters), followed by expert insights from Prof. Manuela Bojadžijev (Humboldt University and Berlin Institute for Migration Research) and Aju John (activist, lawyer, and researcher). Together, they explored central questions raised by the film:
-
What determines whether a person has the right to stay in Europe?
-
How do migrant narratives shape asylum outcomes and the line between recognition and rejection?
-
What is the relationship between fiction and documentation in films about migration?
-
What aspects of migration debates in Europe remain under-discussed — solidarity, social justice, or the everyday realities shaped by precarious labor and unequal city structures?
Aju John and Manuela Bojadžijev at the “Staying” Film & Talk Event
Prof. Bojadžijev drew on her long-standing research into how migration and social change are narrated and contested, including insights from the Transforming Solidarities project. Aju John shared both lived and researched perspectives on migrant delivery workers in Europe, highlighting how platform labor, informal work, and insecure residency conditions intersect in the lives of many migrants.
The audience engaged deeply with the film and the discussion prompts — many describing the event as eye-opening, emotional, and an important reminder of the human realities behind migration debates.
For those who want to delve deeper:
-
Transforming Solidarities (open-access book featuring work by Prof. Bojadžijev)
-
Delivery Charge Podcast by Aju John, featuring stories and research on migrant workers in the platform economy
A heartfelt thank you to our guests Prof. Manuela Bojadžijev and Aju John, our partners at Yorck Kinogruppe and the Deutsche Postcode Lotterie, and everyone who joined us for this impactful evening.
The Film & Talk Series concludes with part 3 on January 27, 2026, exploring the theme RETURNING.
Photos by Allan Whyte