March 2009 | blackfilm.com

March 2009

GOOD BYE SOLO

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Good Bye Solo
Goodbye Solo’s lead actor, Souléymane Sy Savané is on the rise and the sky is the limit.

by Nasser Metcalfe

What if the most meaningful friend you ever had entered your life two weeks before you were supposed to die? What if it was your choice as to whether or not your life would end at that time or not? What would you choose? This is what the story of Goodbye Solo, the latest film from award winning director Ramin Bahrani, leads one to question. The film proves provocative on a multitude of levels by examining the dynamics of human relations as they exist across racial, generational, and to a certain extent, class lines. When Solo, a thirty something Senegalese cab driver, picks up William, a seventy year plus southern white man, an unlikely bond instantly ensues. When William enlists Solo to drive him to a remote mountain top location in two weeks time his intention becomes apparent to both men. Over the course of the remaining time the two men’s lives become intertwined. As a film that examines what makes people value life or not, Goodbye Solo is ambitious enough to confront many of the misconceptions people harbor toward one another. Solo and William could both be easily dismissed as the sum total of how they appear on the surface but it is the complexities of their humanity that the film explores and uses to forge the plot and unfold their developing friendship.

Goodbye Solo features the debut of new comer Souléymane Sy Savané as the title character Solo. His performance marks the breakthrough point for an actor’s whose journey began in his homeland, Ivory Coast, West Africa years ago. Sy Savané first got bitten by the acting bug at age 20 when the mini series, Chaka Zulu was first shown on television in Africa. He explains “A lot of my friends were like ‘Oh my god that looks like you!’ And I was like ‘hmm’ and that’s when I started thinking about it for the first time. ” He continues, “So I thought about coming to the States first before thinking about acting or anything like that. I didn’t even know what I would come here to do. I just knew I wanted to come to the States. And acting really came way later.” He finally embarked on pursuing his long time interest by 2004 and started taking acting classes while simultaneously working hard to improve his English as well as monitoring Craig’s List for possible opportunity.

In order to support himself along the way, Sy Savané was following a road often traveled by many aspiring actors, waiting tables, when opportunity came knocking or ringing in his case. “I remember I was working a lunch shift at a Japanese restaurant in New York [City]. I was there and I got a phone call. I wasn’t really supposed to have my phone [while working] but I got a phone call from a friend of mine, a director friend. He was like ‘There’s this guy that shot Man Push Cart that is casting for his next movie and maybe you want to check it out.’ ” After a grueling audition process that lasted over the course of five to seven months, Souléymane Sy Savané got his chance. During this time he had made the move from New York City to Los Angeles so some of his submissions had to be done via video sent to the East coast casting offices. In total he auditioned ten to fifteen times. The commitment and due diligence paid off. Director Ramin Bahrani literally searched the world for the lead in his new film, going as far as Cannes, France to read actors who may potentially be the right fit. When all was said and done, it was Sy Savané who emerged as the one. He joyfully recalls, “I was in LA at the time and I was driving to work. I was working at a restaurant and the director called me and was like ‘We decided we’re going to go with you’ and I was like ‘Oh my god you just made my day!’ he was like ‘I hope I made your year’ so I called work and cancelled” He went home to celebrate with his wife, Erickka who is in the business as well, having appeared in numerous national commercials and print ads herself as well as notable film and television credits including Ashy Larry’s wife on Chappelle Show. The next day, however, he did return to work only to find that whether he knew it or not, it was time to transition from life as a waiter into a full time actor. With the benefit of hindsight and distance, Sy Savané can now laughingly remember allowing the celebration to continue just a bit too long. “I got kicked out of the restaurant and they called security on me.” Allowing himself to indulge a bit in a spirit or two while at the job didn’t seem to sit so well with management. “It was just stupid. I was honestly very happy. C’mon man. They didn’t have to call security on me. Part of me was like ‘I don’t care. I made it big’”. However, the lesson to be learned was not to count the chickens before they hatch. Upon arriving at the first rehearsal the director, in the interest of honesty and full disclosure notified him that secure financing for the film was still being worked out. “ I was thinking to myself ‘What? I just lost my job bro’ ”. However, the actor chose to have faith in his director just as the director had put his faith in him. Thankfully everything worked out and principle photography was able to commence in North Carolina as planned. The rehearsal period, however, led Sy Savané to delve deeply into the preparation process. He not only had to brush up on his driving skills to effectively portray a cab driver, he also had homework to do. A significant part of this effort was to review Rahmin Bahrani’s previous work. As he watched Chop Shop and Man Push Cart respectively, he started to notice some things. “I could see that his style was close to some type of Neo Realism. Something like Fellini so I started watching Fellini. So I could get the pace of the story and that was a big part of my preparation”.

Bahrani’s casting instincts have proven to be sound. At film festivals around the world Goodbye Solo has brought audiences literally to their feet. Says Sy Savané, “We won the International Film Critic’s Award in Venice. We had a ten minute standing ovation when we opened. It was just amazing. I’ve never experienced something like that. It was really unbelievable. It was a great response and it has been really, really well received. Now we’re just concentrating and hoping that the public will love it even more.” Praise for performance by the young man from West Africa has been wide spread and enthusiastic. There is a natural magnetism that Souléymane Sy Savané exudes, causing audiences to instantly connect to him. Even renown, veteran film critic Roger Ebert has described him as “A force of nature”. The future appears very promising for the young man from Ivory Coast who just a few short years ago came to these shores in pursuit of the American dream. He can be seen next in the much anticipated Off Broadway play Groundswell about Apartheid in South Africa opening in New York City May 4. The show will mark the stage debut for the rising talent. Keep looking out for his work. Somehow one gets the feeling that this is just the beginning of something big.

Goodbye Solo opens in New York City and Chicago on March 27, 2009. Subsequent nationwide release dates are listed below.

Click on the following link to see the trailer http://www.goodbyesolomovie.com
http://www.goodbyesolomovie.com/video.html

Goodbye Solo has gotten a lot of acclaim.
Here's what the critics had to say:

“Powerful, Riveting, Inspiring!”
-Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

“Has an uncanny ability to enlarge your perception
of the world.”
-A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“Warmhearted and cheerful. A force of nature!
Bahrani has established himself as a major filmmaker.”
-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

OPENING FRIDAY MARCH 27th

Exclusive Q&A with director Ramin Bahrani and lead actor Souléymane Sy Savané at the Angelika:

Fri 27th, Sat 28th - 7pm & 9pm shows
Sun 28th - 3pm & 5pm shows
GOODBYE SOLO Theatrical run:

Starts
March 27 New York City Angelika
March 27 New York City, CC Center 1,2,3
March 27 Chicago Century Centre
April 10 Los Angeles Sunset 5
April 10 Pasadena, CA Playhouse 7
April 10 Santa Monica, CA Monica 4-Plex
April 17 Berkeley, CA Shattuck
April 17 Boston Kendall Square
April 17 San Francisco TBD
April 24 San Diego Ken Cinema
May 1 Minneapolis Lagoon Cinema
May 8 Baltimore, MD Charles Theater
May 8 Charlotte, NC Park Terrace
May 8 Philadelphia Ritz
May 8 Seattle Varsity Theater
May 8 Washington, D.C. E Street Cinema
May 10 Portland, OR Fox Tower
May 15 Atlanta Midtown Art Cinema
May 15 Austin, TX Arbor
May 15 St. Louis Tivoli Theater
June 14 Ojai, CA Ojai Theatre

GOODBYE SOLO Special screenings:

Starts
March 24 Tiburon, CA Tiburon Film Festival
March 30 Philadelphia Philadelphia Film Festival
March 31 Philadelphia Philadelphia Film Festival
April 2 Minneapolis Retrospective and master class at Walker Art Center
April 11 Boston Retrospective at Harvard Film Archive
http://www.goodbyesolomovie.com/video.html

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