Father & Soldier

Father & Soldier (Tirailleurs) is a 2022 French-Senegalese war-drama film directed and co-written by Mathieu Vadepied, starring Omar Sy, Alassane Diong, and Jonas Bloquet. It was produced by Omar Sy and Bruno Nahon. The film opened the Un Certain Regard section in competition at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2022, and was released in theaters in France by Gaumont on 4 January 2023, and in Senegal by Pathé BC Afrique on 6 January 2023.

Plot
During World War I, in 1917, Senegalese Bakary Diallo enlists in the French Army in order to be with his 17-year-old son, Thierno, who was forcibly recruited. Sent to the Western front, they try to find the means to return to Senegal - Bakary through underground contacts and Thierno through the command structure.

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 $14 million budget, the film was produced by Bruno Nahon's Unité and Omar Sy's Korokoro in co-production with Gaumont, France 3 Cinéma, Mille Soleils and Sy Possible Africa. It was co-produced by Mathieu Vadepied, with Maryvonne Le Meur and Caroline Nataf serving as associate producers. The screenplay was written by Vadepied and Olivier Demangel.

Alexandre Desplat composed the original music for the film.

Filming
The film was shot in France from 23 August 2021 to 13 October 2021, before moving on to Senegal in January 2022. It was partially shot in Neufmaison, Ardennes.

Release
A 1-minute clip from the film was released on Le HuffPost's YouTube channel on 19 May 2022. On 10 November 2022, the film's official poster and official trailer were released.

The film had its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival as the opening film in the Un Certain Regard section on 18 May 2022. It will be distributed in France and internationally by Gaumont. It was released in French cinemas on 4 January 2023, and in Senegal by Pathé BC Afrique on 6 January 2023.

Reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 83% based on 6 reviews.

AlloCiné, a French cinema website, gave the film an average rating of 3.3/5, based on a survey of 27 French reviews.

Box Office
The film sold over 55,000 tickets on its first day of release in France, with 2,034 viewers per screening in 554 theaters. During its first weekend of release, Father & Soldier sold over 456,000 tickets, ranking number two at the box office, behind Avatar: The Way of Water (1,6 million entries), and in front of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (168,061 entries)