“For a two-week run leading up to the Oscars, the Crandell presents a compelling feature from Tunisia, The Man Who Sold His Skin. Director Kaouther Ben Hania was inspired by a living work she saw in the Louvre, ‘Tim’ by Wim Delvoye, in which a man named Tim Steiner sat shirtless, still, and under contract to do so, in a gallery so his tattoo might be viewed. ‘Tim’ led Ben Hania to imagine a Syrian refugee who “sells” his back as a canvas in order to gain asylum in Belgium. Ben Hania’s film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September, where she was not only cited as one of the best of a new generation of filmmakers but her star, Yahya Mahayni won a Best Actor award. The ever impressive Monica Bellucci appears as a thick skinned art dealer.” – Laurence Kardish, FilmColumbia co-artistic director and former senior film curator at MoMA
“Art satire meets immigration drama in the Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin. Ben Hania repurposes a real-life chapter from the annals of the art world, when the Belgian artist Wim Delvoye tattooed the back of a man, and then sold it as art.” — Nicolas Rapold, New York Times
“…a stimulating work that highlights important issues and once again confirms Ben Hania as a rising talent.” — Alissa Simon, Variety
Kaouther Ben Hania
Kaouther Ben Hania
Yahya Mahayni, Dea Liane, Koen De Bouw
Arabic, English, French