Father & Soldier

Father & Soldier

Company type	Film
Industry	Film industry
Founded	2022
Founder	Mathieu Vadepied, Omar Sy, Bruno Nahon
Headquarters	France, Senegal
Products	War drama film

Father & Soldier () is a 2022 war drama from France and Senegal, directed and co-written by Mathieu Vadepied. The film features performances by Omar Sy, Alassane Diong, and Jonas Bloquet. Produced by Omar Sy alongside Bruno Nahon, it had its premiere in the Un Certain Regard category at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2022. The movie was subsequently released in French theaters by Gaumont on 4 January 2023 and later in Senegal through Pathé BC Afrique on 6 January 2023.

Plot

Set in 1917 during World War I, the story follows Bakary Diallo, a Senegalese man who joins the French Army to be close to his 17-year-old son, Thierno, who has been forcibly conscripted. Both are deployed to the Western Front, where they each attempt to find a way back home: Bakary relies on underground networks while Thierno seeks assistance through military channels.

Cast

• Omar Sy as Bakary Diallo
• Alassane Diong as Thierno
• Jonas Bloquet as Lieutenant Chambreau
• Bamar Kane as Salif
• Oumar Sey as Abdoulaye

Production

With a production budget of $14 million, the film was developed by Bruno Nahon's Unité and Omar Sy's Korokoro in collaboration with Gaumont, France 3 Cinéma, Mille Soleils, and Sy Possible Africa. Mathieu Vadepied served as co-producer, with Maryvonne Le Meur and Caroline Nataf acting as associate producers. The screenplay was crafted by Vadepied in partnership with Olivier Demangel.

The original musical score was composed by Alexandre Desplat.

Filming

Shooting took place primarily in France from August through October 2021, followed by additional filming in Senegal during January 2022. One of the key locations used was Neufmaison in the Ardennes region.

Release

A one-minute teaser was unveiled on Le HuffPost's YouTube channel on 19 May 2022. The official poster and full trailer were made public on 10 November 2022.

The film opened the Un Certain Regard section at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2022. Distributed by Gaumont, it reached French cinemas on 4 January 2023 and was released in Senegal by Pathé BC Afrique two days later.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on six reviews. The French cinema platform AlloCiné assigned it an average rating of 3.3 out of 5, compiled from 27 reviews by French critics.

Box Office

In France, Father & Soldier attracted over 55,000 viewers on its opening day, averaging approximately 2,034 attendees per screening across a total of 554 theaters. During its first weekend, ticket sales surpassed 456,000, securing second place at the box office behind Avatar: The Way of Water which drew around 1.6 million viewers, while outperforming Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which sold about 168,061 tickets.

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Cannes Film Festival	27 May 2022	Un Certain Regard	Mathieu Vadepied	Template:Nom
Festival France Odéon de Florence	28 October 2022	Feuille d'or pour la musique	Alexandre Desplat	Template:Nom

External links

• Father & Soldier featured at Cannes Film Festival