Pulsation

The Man Who Sold His Skin

L'Homme qui a vendu sa peau

Swiss Premiere

Kaouther Ben Hania / Tunisia, France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany / 2020 / 100 min / Drama
Arabic, English, French / Subtitles English

A Syrian man is offered a pact by an artist: he will tattoo a visa on his back and display him in exchange for a real ticket for Europe. One is freer as an object than as a human being after all. A sensation at the last Venice Mostra, the movie earned its main actor an award.

“What does it mean to be free?” Fleeing Syria, a refugee in Lebanon sells his skin and makes a Faustian pact in order to obtain a visa for Europe. The filmmaker was inspired by the story of a Swiss man who in 2006 lent his back to controversial visual artist Wim Delvoye who tattooed him, turning him into a work of art and selling him for $150,000 to a German collector. The glorious photography is by Christopher Aoun and the soundtrack by Amine Bouhafa.

Direction

Kaouther Ben Hania

Screenplay

Kaouther Ben Hania

Image

Christopher Aoun

Editing

Marie-Hélène Dozo

Sound

Anders Billing, Vive Leny Andrieux

Music

Amine Bouhafa

Production

Tanit Films (Nadim Cheikhrouha), Cinetele films (Habib Attia), Twenty Twenty Vision (Thanassis Karathano), Twenty Twenty Vision (Martin Hampel), Kwassa Films (Annabella Nezri), Laika Film and Television (Andreas Rocksen), Metafora Media Production (Fayçal Hassaïri), Sunnyland Film as a member of A.R.T. Group (Antoine Khalife), Film i Vast (Anthony Muir), VOO Be tv (Philippe Logie), Istiqlal Films (Philippe Faucon)

With

Yahya Mahayni, Dea Liane, Monica Bellucci, Koen De Bouw, Darina Al Joundi, Christian Vadim

International sales

BAC Films (Marine Dorville)

Distribution

Trigon Film (Meret Ruggle)