The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020)

Original title

الرجل الذي باع ظهره

Directed by

Kaouther Ben Hania

Genre

drama film, black comedy film

Country

Tunisia, Cyprus, Germany, France

Runtime

1h 44m

Rated

R18+

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 149 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Syrian man fleeing conflict agrees to have his back tattooed by a famous artist, turning his body into a valuable work of art. As he lives under the restrictions of this arrangement, he struggles to regain control of his life and his identity.

contemplativetensesatiricalmelancholicunsettlingslow-burnintimatebleak

What happens

The Man Who Sold His Skin (Arabic: الرجل الذي باع ظهره, romanized: ar-rajul allaḏī bāʿa ẓahrahu, lit. 'The Man Who Sold His Back') is a 2020 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Kaouther Ben Hania. Its plot was inspired by Belgian contemporary artist Wim Delvoye's living work Tim (2006), which was in turn inspired by Roald Dahl's 1952 short story "Skin". It was selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, making the shortlist of fifteen films. In March 2021, it was nominated for the Best International Feature Film. It premiered in the Horizons section at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, where Yahya Mahayni won the Best Actor Award. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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