During the last years the world has become perhaps even more aware of the phenomenon of mass immigration, especially due to the still ongoing conflict in Syria. While the news of many people, desperate to find peace and the opportunity for a new life somewhere certainly touches us, it was perhaps the constant stream of images which have left a mark on our collective mind. The idea of people ripped from their homes, with nothing left other than the clothes on their bodies and a few other remains, has become a reminder of one of the most pressing conditions of our times, one which will probably only worsen due to the Covid-pandemic. The often cynical notion of the worth of human beings seems to define political debates, a discussion which hides the fates of people in favor of economic and social benefit. In many ways, Kaouther Ben Haria’s feature...
- 4/21/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
A version of this story about “The Man Who Sold His Skin” first appeared in the Down to the Wire issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
The seeds for “The Man Who Sold His Skin” came in 2012, when director Kaouther Ben Hania saw a Louvre exhibit by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye, whose work included a tattooed man sitting in the gallery. “It stayed with me,” she said. “And if you have this kind of image in your mind, you can chase it and question it: ‘Who is this man, why is he sitting there, why did he do it?’ And when you ask yourself these kinds of questions, a fiction appears.”
But “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” a stylish and provocative drama that was one of the surprises of this year’s Oscar race for Best International Feature Film, took years to develop between the moment of inspiration and the finished film.
The seeds for “The Man Who Sold His Skin” came in 2012, when director Kaouther Ben Hania saw a Louvre exhibit by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye, whose work included a tattooed man sitting in the gallery. “It stayed with me,” she said. “And if you have this kind of image in your mind, you can chase it and question it: ‘Who is this man, why is he sitting there, why did he do it?’ And when you ask yourself these kinds of questions, a fiction appears.”
But “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” a stylish and provocative drama that was one of the surprises of this year’s Oscar race for Best International Feature Film, took years to develop between the moment of inspiration and the finished film.
- 4/15/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
“The Man Who Sold His Skin” represents a small handful of long-overdue firsts — it’s the first Tunisian film nominated for Best International Feature at the Oscars, thereby making director Kaouther Ben Hania the first Muslim woman who’s ever been invited to compete in this category — but for all of the project’s barrier-breaking success there’s also something naggingly familiar about the choice to honor it alongside heavyweights such as “Another Round” and “Collective.”
It’s not every year that voters are confronted with a glossy romantic melodrama that leverages the Syrian refugee crisis into the smirking kind of art world satire that Ruben Östlund made with “The Square,” and yet Ben Hania’s genre-defying film would seem even more unprecedented if not for the context provided by a smattering of recent Oscar winners and also-rans: “The Lives of Others,” Denis Vileneuve’s “Incendies,” and before that, cultural phenomena like “Life Is Beautiful.
It’s not every year that voters are confronted with a glossy romantic melodrama that leverages the Syrian refugee crisis into the smirking kind of art world satire that Ruben Östlund made with “The Square,” and yet Ben Hania’s genre-defying film would seem even more unprecedented if not for the context provided by a smattering of recent Oscar winners and also-rans: “The Lives of Others,” Denis Vileneuve’s “Incendies,” and before that, cultural phenomena like “Life Is Beautiful.
- 4/8/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Each of the five nominees for Best International Feature Film tackles heavy-hitting real-world issues — alcoholism, bullying, asylum-seeking emigration, government corruption, genocide — but showcases them in exceptional and entertaining ways. This diverse group hailing from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Hong Kong, Romania, and Tunisia challenges the status quo with these captivating stories that are sure to leave a lasting impact.
The crowd-pleasing frontrunner of the set is “Another Round,” which leads in critics guild wins and marks Denmark’s 13th Academy Award nominee. Its premise, a group of middle aged teachers tests the theory that maintaining a 0.05% Bac enhances one’s life, seems the least harrowing among its competition of heavier real-world issues. “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg’s previous film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2013, is another thrilling Mads Mikkelsen showcase with some of the same supporting cast. Vinterberg’s directing nomination is not only a big indicator for the film’s widespread love,...
The crowd-pleasing frontrunner of the set is “Another Round,” which leads in critics guild wins and marks Denmark’s 13th Academy Award nominee. Its premise, a group of middle aged teachers tests the theory that maintaining a 0.05% Bac enhances one’s life, seems the least harrowing among its competition of heavier real-world issues. “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg’s previous film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2013, is another thrilling Mads Mikkelsen showcase with some of the same supporting cast. Vinterberg’s directing nomination is not only a big indicator for the film’s widespread love,...
- 3/28/2021
- by Nick Ruhrkraut
- Gold Derby
Kaouther Ben Hania has shown previously that's she's not afraid to tackle provocative material head-on with Beauty And The Dogs, which pulled no punches in its consideration of a woman's fight for her rights in Tunisia after a rape. Now her latest film, which has been shortlisted for best International Feature at the Oscars, the subject matter is leavened by a love story but is no less sharp in its questioning of the attitudes of society versus an individual's rights.
This story was inspired by a former tattoo artist, Swiss-born Londoner Tim Steiner, who sold his back as an art canvas for Belgian artist Wim Delvoye (who pops up briefly as an insurance agent in this film), but Ben Hania expands the tale into more edgy and political territory by considering what would happen if a Syrian refugee was "commodified" in this way. The Syrian in question is Sam Ali (played.
This story was inspired by a former tattoo artist, Swiss-born Londoner Tim Steiner, who sold his back as an art canvas for Belgian artist Wim Delvoye (who pops up briefly as an insurance agent in this film), but Ben Hania expands the tale into more edgy and political territory by considering what would happen if a Syrian refugee was "commodified" in this way. The Syrian in question is Sam Ali (played.
- 2/13/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Now shortlisted in the international feature category, Tunisia’s ambitious entry “The Man Who Sold His Skin” from female writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania (“Beauty and the Dogs”) offers a provocative contemporary take on a Faustian bargain. An audacious but not always palatable mix of drama, tragedy, romance, satire and dark humor, the plot centers on Sam (newcomer Yahya Mahayni), a displaced Syrian with a chip on his shoulder who allows a cryptic art-world guru to use his back as a canvas. Paradoxically, it becomes easier for him to travel to Europe as an artwork than as a refugee. But what he thought of as freedom turns out to be anything but.
Lest anyone think the central idea is farfetched, helmer Ben Hania was inspired by the Belgian artist Wim Delvoye (seen here in a cameo role), who tattooed and signed the back of a man called Tim. The piece was...
Lest anyone think the central idea is farfetched, helmer Ben Hania was inspired by the Belgian artist Wim Delvoye (seen here in a cameo role), who tattooed and signed the back of a man called Tim. The piece was...
- 2/11/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” which recently launched from Venice, combines the absurdity of the contemporary art world, where a man’s skin can truly become a canvas, and the plight of refugees. It’s the tale of a Syrian who accepts to have a large Schengen visa, the document he desperately needs to enter Europe, tattooed on his back by a famous artist, thus becoming a human artwork to be exhibited in a Brussels museum.
The film, which packs a political punch and is also entertaining, is having its Arabic premiere at Egypt’s El Gouna fest. It follows from Ben Hania’s “Beauty and the Dogs,” the drama about the rape of a young Tunisian woman by policemen that made a splash at Cannes in 2017, and put her on the global radar. The director spoke to Variety from El Gouna about casting a relative newcomer,...
The film, which packs a political punch and is also entertaining, is having its Arabic premiere at Egypt’s El Gouna fest. It follows from Ben Hania’s “Beauty and the Dogs,” the drama about the rape of a young Tunisian woman by policemen that made a splash at Cannes in 2017, and put her on the global radar. The director spoke to Variety from El Gouna about casting a relative newcomer,...
- 10/28/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Drama about refugee who becomes a human work of art premieres in Venice’s Horizons section.
The recent exploits of the Banksy-funded refugee rescue boat the Louise Michel in the Mediterranean helped put the global refugee crisis back on the news agenda in recent days.
The world of contemporary art and refugees also come together in Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin, which premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section this weekend.
Syrian actor Yahya Mahayni stars as a young Syrian man living in exile in Beirut. His life changes forever when...
The recent exploits of the Banksy-funded refugee rescue boat the Louise Michel in the Mediterranean helped put the global refugee crisis back on the news agenda in recent days.
The world of contemporary art and refugees also come together in Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin, which premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section this weekend.
Syrian actor Yahya Mahayni stars as a young Syrian man living in exile in Beirut. His life changes forever when...
- 9/6/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The Tunisian helmer’s new drama will star Yahya Mahayni, Monica Bellucci, Koen de Bouw, Dea Liane and Wim Delvoye in the lead roles. Kaouther Ben Hania’s new project is now in post-production, as confirmed by Nadim Cheikhrouha, producer at Tanit Films. The Tunisian director is best known for her previous features Challat of Tunis (2013), selected as the opening movie of the 2014 programme of screenings organised by the Acid (Association for Independent Film Distribution) in Cannes, and Beauty and the Dogs, chosen for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The latter was also the Tunisian entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign-language Film. The story of this new film, penned in its entirety by the director herself, tells of the vicissitudes of Sam Ali, a Syrian refugee. In order to be able to travel to Europe and...
France’s Bac Films has boarded a pair of politically engaged Middle Eastern films from women directors: Sepideh Farsi’s animated feature “The Siren” and Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Man Who Sold His Skin.”
“The Siren” is produced by Les Films d’Ici, the banner behind “Waltz With Bashir” and “Funan,” and co-produced by Luxembourg’s Bac Cinéma, Germany’s Katuh Studio and Belgium’s Lunanime.
“Siren,” set in 1980, unfolds in Abadan, the capital of the Iranian oil industry where locals are resisting an Iraqi siege. The film follows the journey of 14-year-old Omid who has braved the siege and stayed in the city with his grandfather, waiting for his elder brother to return from the front line. Omid tries to save his family using an abandoned boat he finds in Abadan’s port.
Bac Films is handling international sales, on top of co-producing, and is showing a teaser...
“The Siren” is produced by Les Films d’Ici, the banner behind “Waltz With Bashir” and “Funan,” and co-produced by Luxembourg’s Bac Cinéma, Germany’s Katuh Studio and Belgium’s Lunanime.
“Siren,” set in 1980, unfolds in Abadan, the capital of the Iranian oil industry where locals are resisting an Iraqi siege. The film follows the journey of 14-year-old Omid who has braved the siege and stayed in the city with his grandfather, waiting for his elder brother to return from the front line. Omid tries to save his family using an abandoned boat he finds in Abadan’s port.
Bac Films is handling international sales, on top of co-producing, and is showing a teaser...
- 5/15/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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