French film 'El sueño americano' brings little-known agents' NBA breakthrough to cinemas

A new French release, El sueño americano, lands in Spanish cinemas on 24 July 2026 with a story that director Anthony Marciano insists is not about basketball but about friendship and work. The 122‑minute comedy‑drama retraces the real‑life trajectory of Bouna Ndiaye and Jérémy Medjana, two sports agents who rose from precarious, disconnected beginnings to seats at NBA tables.

From videoclub clerk and housing‑estate kid to NBA players’ agents

Ndiaye, of Ghanaian descent, grew up in one of France’s poorest neighbourhoods; Medjana was a videoclub clerk barely making ends meet. Neither had contacts in the world of elite basketball, and their English was, by several accounts, rudimentary when they started. The pair travelled to the United States with maxed‑out credit cards and a battered Ford Fiesta, chasing young talents across the country. Marciano became intrigued after repeatedly spotting the two men in the background of game broadcasts: “I’m interested in people whose story is usually unknown, who aren’t famous but achieved great things.”

The $46 million deal that changed everything

After a string of failures, the breakthrough arrived in 2012 when they negotiated a four‑year, $46 million contract for Nicolas Batum with the Portland Trail Blazers. The deal is depicted as a moment of almost farcical triumph, but it cemented their credentials in a league that had previously ignored them. The film, while warm‑hearted, does not shy away from the financial tightrope of the early years: multiple bank loans, a constant juggling of credit cards, and the pressure of percentage‑based earnings.

Everybody knows who Mbappé is, but very few know his agent.

Chemistry that cannot be faked

Jean‑Pascal Zadi and Raphaël Quenard, who already shared a friendship off‑screen, play Ndiaye and Medjana as archetypal opposites bound by tenacity. Marciano says their rapport was impossible to simulate: “There is a chemistry you can’t fake in a film.” The real Ndiaye and Medjana were closely involved in the production and, the director recalls, often looked at the set with the enthusiasm of men who still could not believe their story was being told.

They seemed amazed that someone was recounting their lives.

A feel‑good plea for the people in the shadows

Spanish critics have noted the film’s deliberate avoidance of heavy conflict and its focus on loyalty as the core value. Reviews describe it as a digestible, sentimental crowd‑pleaser that, while glossing over some rougher edges, emphasises the idea that success can be built on second chances and mutual trust. The basketball action is sparse; the real game is the partnership between two men who, against most odds, turned a shared obsession into a livelihood inside the most lucrative league on earth.