The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020)

His own body turned into a living work of art and promptly exhibited in a museum, Sam, a Syrian refugee, will soon realize to have sold away more than just his skin.

Director:

Kaouther Ben Hania

Writer:

Kaouther Ben Hania

Stars:

Yahya Mahayni, Dea Liane, Koen De Bouw

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yahya Mahayni	...	Sam Ali
Dea Liane	...	Abeer
Koen De Bouw	...	Jeffrey Godefroi
Monica Bellucci	...	Soraya Waldy
Saad Lostan	...	Ziad
Darina Al Joundi	...	Sam's Mother
Jan Dahdoh	...	Hazem
Christian Vadim	...	William, Sam's Attorney
Marc de Panda	...	Marc Sheen
Najoua Zouhair	...	Sam's Sister
Husam Chadat	...	Adel Saadi
Nadim Cheikhrouha	...	Museum Guard
Rémi Sarmini	...	Syrian Policeman
Mouldi Kriden	...	Syrian Policeman
Rupert Wynne-James	...	Martin (Curator)

Storyline

Sam Ali, a Syrian young man, took refuge in Lebanon to flee the Syrian civil war. There, he meets Jeffrey Godefroi, a famous tattoo artist, who makes Mr Ali's back his canvas for a piece of work. Soon, Mr Ali becomes aliving work of art, worth an astronomical sum on the art market,l. Collectors are interested, auction goes up, human rights activists are outraged. Mr Ali must get out of the predicament he's in; the man who sold his skin.

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Plot Keywords:

syrian refugee | escape | brussels belgium | bare chested male | hairy chest | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Kaouther Ben Hania was visiting the Louvre Museum in Paris in 2012 which at the time was devoting a retrospective to Belgium artist Wim Delvoye. There she saw, in Napoleon III Apartments, Delvoye's Tim, (2006 - 08) in which the artist had tattooed the back of Tim Steiner, who was sitting on an armchair with his shirt off displaying Delvoye's design. The piece was sold to a German art collector and Tim is contractually obliged to spend a certain amount of time, topless and sitting still, in a gallery every year. Wim Delvoye appears in the movie as the insurance guy.

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Quotes

Sam Ali: Don't take it badly, ok? fuck you.

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Connections

Featured in The Oscars (2021)

User Reviews

A Masterpiece

The Man Who Sold His Skin is Tunisia's official submission to the Oscars and was shortlisted. It's just a masterpiece. It's original, smart, different and powerful. Kawthar Ben Hania did an amazing job in writing and directing this movie, she's really a genius. The story is brilliant and tackles many interesting topics and a humane cause, and also delivers an important message. All of that portrayed so nicely in an artsy way that gives the movie a very awesome special atmosphere. The Man Who Sold His Skin is my favorite foreign-language film from last year and one of my favorite movies ever. See it whenever you get the chance to.

Details

Official Sites:

Kwassa Films [Belgium] Official site

Country:

Tunisia France Belgium Germany Sweden Turkey

Language:

Arabic English French Flemish

Release Date:

2 April 2021 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Man Who Sold His Skin

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinétéléfilms, Tanit Films, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1