Leïla Sy (born Leïla Dixmier; 30 June 1977), is a French

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. She is known for her work with rapper

Kery James Alix Mathurin () (born December 28, 1977), publicly known as Kery James, is a French- Haitian rapper, singer, actor, director, and screenwriter from Les Abymes, Guadeloupe. James' music has addressed suburban life and social inequalities in cont ...

, including co-directing the film '' Street Flow.''

Biography

Leïla Sy was born Leïla Dixmier on June 30, 1977. to a French mother and

Senegalese Demographic features of the population of Senegal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 42% of Senegal's population i ...

father. After attending the arts school Penninghen,.. she began her career in

French hip hop French hip hop or French rap (, ), is the hip hop music style developed in Francophonie, French-speaking countries. France is the second largest hip-hop market in the world after the United States. History Beginning of French hip hop: the 70s ...

in the press: first working at ''Track List'', she later became the artistic director of the French version of

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

. In 2005, she founded, along with

Joeystarr Didier Morville (; born 27 October 1967), better known by his stage name JoeyStarr, is a French rapper, record producer and actor, from Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, Île-de-France. He co-founded the French rap band Suprême NTM ...

whom she is in a relationship with, the organization Devoirs de mémoires. Sy serves as the organization's president. In 2017, Sy was named a member of the public interest group creating the Fondation pour la mémoire de l'esclavage (Foundation for the memory of slavery). Since 2016, she has created

music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for rapper Kerry James such as "Musique nègre" ("Black Music"), for whom she is the artistic director. They created their first feature film in 2019, Street Flow, with a script written by the rapper and directed by James and Sy. The film was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in October, 2019.

Filmography

Fiction

* 2019 : ''Je t'aim3'', épisode ''Entre chien et Lou'' (court métrage) with

Vald (rapper) Valentin Le Du (; born 15 July 1992), better known by his stage name Vald (; sometimes stylized as VALD), is a French rapper. Born in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, he studied at ''Lycée privé catholique l'Espéranc ...

* 2019 : ''Street Flow'', with

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

: ''Yo Mama'', with Amadou Mariko * 2023 : ''Street Flow 2'', with

Documentary

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

: ''Rîmes et Châtiments''

Music videos

List is not exhaustive *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: ''Je représente'' by

* 2009 : ''Le Retour du rap français'' by Kery James *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

: ''Heart Stop'' by Wax Tailor, co-directed by Mathieu Foucher * 2012 : ''Lettre à la République'' by Kery James, directed by Mathieu Foucher * 2012 : ''Dernier MC'' by Kery James *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: ''Constat amer'' by Kery James * 2013 : ''À l'horizon'' by Kery James ft. Corneille * 2013 : ''Mystère féminin'' by Kery James ft.

Imany Nadia Mladjao (born 5 April 1979), better known by her stage name Imany ( ), is a French pop-soul recording artist of Comorian descent. Her debut album, ''The Shape of a Broken Heart'', which was released in 2011, reached platinum status in Fran ...

* 2013 : ''Contre nous'' by Kery James ft.

Youssoupha Youssoupha Mabiki (; born August 29, 1979), better known by his nickname Youssoupha is a French rapper of Congolese descent. Early life and career He was born to a Congolese father, the musician and Congo-Kinshasa political figure Tabu Ley Ro ...

& Médine, directed by Kub&Cristo * 2013 : ''Post Scriptum'' by Kery James *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

: ''Paris'' by

Tunisiano Bachir Baccour (born 19 May 1979), better known by his stage name Tunisiano, is a Tunisian rapper living in France. Prior to pursuing a solo career, he was a member of M, Sniper (group), Sniper and other rap groups. Career Bachir Baccour's paren ...

* 2014 : ''Bolchoï'' by Soviet Suprem *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

: ''Vivre ou mourir ensemble'' by Kery James * 2016 : ''N'importe quoi'' by Kery James * 2016 : ''Racailles'' by Kery James * 2016 : ''Musique nègre'' by Kery James ft. Lino &

* 2016 : ''J'suis pas un héros'' by Kery James * 2016 : ''Game of Bells'' by LEJ * 2016 : ''Le Prix'' by

Rockin' Squat Rockin' Squat ( Mathias Crochon (); born 7 September 1969), also known as Mathias Cassel, is a French rapper, producer and director. He is the founder of Assassin, and co-founder of the Franco-Brazilian film festival Planeta Ginga. He has colla ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: ''PDM'' by Kery James * 2018 : ''J'rap encore'' by Kery James * 2018 : ''Amal'' by Kery James * 2018 : ''Sur le drapeau'' by

93 Empire ''#93 Empire'' is a French hip hop compilation joining some 40 hip hop artists mostly from Seine-Saint-Denis, released on 5 October 2018. French rapper Sofiane wrote the lead single from the album and who launched the project. The album sold 130,0 ...

(

Suprême NTM Suprême NTM (), or simply NTM, is a French hip hop band formed in 1989 in Saint-Denis, Île-de-France. The band comprises rappers JoeyStarr and Kool Shen. Their 6 albums were released by Sony Music. The group takes its name from the French ...

x Sofiane) * 2018 : ''À la Ideal J'' by Kery James * 2018 : ''Le jour où j'arrêterai le rap'' by Kery James * 2018 : ''Woah'' by

( Sofiane, Vald,

Soolking Abderraouf Deradji (; born 10 December 1989), known professionally as Soolking, is an Algerian singer and rapper. He started his career under the pseudonym MC Sool until 2013 before adopting his new stage name. He incorporates reggae, soul, hip ...

, Sadek,

Mac Tyer Socrate Petnga (born 23 April 1979), better known as Mac Tyer (), is a French rapper of Cameroonian descent, from Aubervilliers, Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an officia ...

Heuss l'Enfoiré Heuss may refer to: * Elly Heuss-Knapp (1881–1952), German politician *Theodor Heuss (1884–1963), West German liberal politician who served as the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1959 * Heuss l'Enfoiré (born 19 ...

Kalash Criminel Amira Kiziamina, known better by his stage name Kalash Criminel, is a French rapper. He was born with the melanin deficient condition albinism, and is usually seen wearing a balaclava. When his musical activities began, he had to hide his face a ...

) * 2018 : ''Rêves de gamin'' by Nassi *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

: ''Khapta'' by

ft. Sofiane * 2019 : ''À qui la faute'' by Kery James ft.

Orelsan Aurélien Cotentin (; born 1 August 1982), better known by his stage name Orelsan (; sometimes stylized as OrelSan), is a French rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor and director. He has released four studio albums: his debut ''Perdu d'av ...

* 2019 : ''Les Yeux mouillés'' by Kery James ft. Youssoupha * 2019 : ''Le Mélancolique'' by Kery James (réalisé avec Julien Faustino) *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

: ''Calumet'' by Hornet La Frappe * 2020 : ''Blues'' by Kery James ft. Féfé * 2020 : ''Lundi méchant'' by

Gaël Faye Gaël Faye (; born 6 August 1982) is a Rwandan–French singer, songwriter, rapper, and writer. Personal life Faye was born in Bujumbura, Burundi, of a French father and Rwandan mother. He moved to France at the age of 13, escaping from the B ...

* 2020 : ''Outro'' by Lyna Mahyem * 2020 : ''Control'' by Bilal Hassani *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

: ''Le Goût de vivre'' by Kery James * 2021 : ''Boomer'' by

Awareness campaign

* 2016 : ' for the Centre Primo Levi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leila Sy French music video directors French women film directors 1977 births French film director stubs Living people