THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN

L'HOMME QUI A VENDU SA PEAU

By Kaouther BEN HANIA

FILM I VÄST - as FIN

Drama - Completed 2020

Sam Ali is a young Syrian who is escaping from the civil war in his country. To travel to Europe, he accepts to have his back tattooed by one of the most outstanding contemporary artists in the world. Sam will realize that his decision will not make him free.

Festivals
& Awards

La Biennale di Venezia - Venice FF 2020
Orizzonti ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
Ventana Sur 2020
European Screenings
RDV UniFrance (online) 2021
    • Year of production
    • 2020
    • Genres
    • Drama, Female director
    • Countries
    • FRANCE, TUNISIA, BELGIUM, SWEDEN, GERMANY
    • Languages
    • ARABIC, ENGLISH
    • Duration
    • 90 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Kaouther BEN HANIA
    • Producer(s)
    • - - (TANIT FILMS), - - (CINETELEFILMS), Guillaume RAMBOURG, - - (KWASSA FILMS), - - (LAIKA FILMS), - - (TWENTY TWENTY VISION), - - (METAFORA PRODUCTIONS), - - (SUNNYLAND FILMS)
    • Synopsis
    • Sam Ali, a young sensitive and impulsive Syrian, fled to Lebanon to escape the Syrian war. Without legal status, he is unable to get a visa to go to Europe where his beloved Abeer lives. While living off opening cocktails in art galleries in Beirut, he meets Jeffrey Godefroi, the best-known American artist in contemporary art, with whom he concludes a strange deal that will forever change his life. The artist suggests to turn Sam Ali into his artwork by tattooing a Schengen visa on his back. Obsessed by the opportunity to see his love, Sam Ali agrees and passes from the status of a vulgar «undocumented refugee» to a work of art internationally solicited realizing that the visa on his back means anything but freedom.