Under the theme “Resistance and Revolt: The Power of Images,” the 2026 Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights is spotlighting the documentary Belleville Will Always See Us Dance. Directed by Hugo Sobelman, the film follows the peaceful struggle of a group of young Afro-descendants in Paris’s Belleville neighbourhood.
Among the main characters is photographer Souleymane Fofana, also known as Commeas. Humor, music and dance bind this group of friends together, on screen and in real life. Fofana’s photo exhibition, “Les 11,” is being shown alongside the film in competition.
Describing the setting of the documentary, Fofana explains:
“It’s a community centre where young people from the neighbourhood, older residents and volunteers come together to develop different projects, whether humanitarian or cinematic. In the film, we follow a group of friends learning to grow up together in a society marked by inequality and a certain violence, the violence of the wider world, the one you face when you leave our neighbourhood and lose your bearings. That’s essentially what the film is about: it shows how we manage to confront all of this using our own tools.”
Despite the challenges, Fofana insists the story is not just about hardship:
“It’s not all negative; there’s a lot of positive too, because you see young people, making do with the means they have, trying to make it. Some do incredibly well, and in one way or another, everyone succeeds at something.”
Fofana also traces his journey into photography back to his own family history:
“At first, I got into photography because I come from a large family. When I was younger, I loved looking through our photo albums at home. One day, my older sister gave me her camera. I started by taking pictures of my nieces and nephews, and little by little, it became serious, and my style began to be recognized. After that, people started reaching out to me for projects, which helped me develop my work and turn it into my profession today.”
This is the third time Souleymane Fofana has exhibited his work at the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights. Through both the film and his photography, he says his aim is simple: to share his art and inspire others.
