Film guide 2020
The Man Who Sold His Skin
A refugee’s route to the woman he loves passes through the international art market.
- Original title
- The Man Who Sold His Skin
- Director
- Kaouther Ben Hania
- Year
- 2020
Editorial profile. Availability on LAREINE TV has not been confirmed.
Story, without spoilers
Syrian refugee Sam Ali wants to reach Europe and reunite with Abeer. An artist offers an extraordinary arrangement: Sam’s back will become a tattooed artwork. The promise of movement draws him into a world where the value of an object can outweigh a person’s autonomy.
Context & recognition
Selected for Venice’s Orizzonti programme in 2020, Kaouther Ben Hania’s film brings migration and contemporary art into the same fiction. The director cites Wim Delvoye’s tattooed artwork Tim among its inspirations.
Main characters & cast
Sam Ali
Yahya Mahayni
A Syrian refugee who accepts becoming a living artwork.
Abeer
Dea Liane
The woman Sam hopes to join in Europe.
Jeffrey Godefroi
Koen de Bouw
The contemporary artist who proposes tattooing Sam’s back.