Biography

Leïla Sy (born Leïla Dixmier; 30 June 1977), is a French director réalisatrice and activist. She is known for her work with rapper Kery James, including co-directing the film Street Flow. Leïla Sy was born Leïla Dixmier, on June 30, 1977 to a French mother and Senegalese father.

After attending the arts school Penninghen, she began her career in French hip hop in the press: first working at Track List, she later became the artistic director of the French version of The Source.

In 2005, she founded with Joeystarr, with whom she was in a relationship, the organization Devoirs de mémoires, with Sy as the 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 2009, has created clips for rapper Kerry James, 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 in October, 2019.