Feature Narrative Film
TOTAL BUDGET
US $1,971,171
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $951,971
CONTACTS
mh.attia@cinetelefilms.net
cinetelefilms@cinetelefilms.net
+216 449001
Sam Ali, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, is unable to join his beloved Abeer in Paris where she lives.
In Beirut, Sam Ali meets Jeffrey Godefroi, a famous contemporary artist, who makes him a piece of art internationally sought after.
Sam Ali, a Syrian young man who is sensitive, impulsive, true and rough, takes refuge in Lebanon to flee the Syrian war. Without legal status, he is unable to have a Schengen visa to go to Paris where his beloved Abeer lives. He then spends his time playing the scrounger in the art galleries of Beirut. And it is in one of these galleries that he meets Jeffrey Godefroi, the most scandalous American artist and the most valued figure in the contemporary art market.
The two men conclude a strange deal that will upset the life of Sam Ali forever. The artist makes of Sam Ali his work by tattooing a Schengen visa on his back. The status of Sam Ali then turns from a mere “illegal" person to a work of art with worldwide popularity, able to circulate freely. But for him, only his devouring passion counts. It is only passion that guides his choices.
From the Louvre to the art galleries of New York through the hell of the Islamic State (ISIS), Sam Ali remains true, upright and in love. However, his dignity is stained; his destiny is put through the mill.
How to get out of this trap, how to regain the esteem of Abeer, how to become a man again when one is pushed into the status of a commercial good? This is the dilemma of Sam Ali, the man who sold his skin.
This project was born from the encounter between two worlds, between two universes. Two universes that are in reality separate and even hermetically sealed – but where my imagination went at length, to cross over, mixing them together to create this film.
The first universe is inspired by the work of Belgian artist Wim Delvoye and the second universe is inspired by the lives and testimonies of several Syrian refugees. I’ve seen Wim Delvoye's artwork “Tim 2006” at the Louvre Museum in 2012. A young man sitting on a chair showing us his back with a tattoo. It was the first point of departure for this project.
I wanted to penetrate the mind of somebody who became a work of art. But the elements of this story remained disembodied until the moment I met Syrian refugees, all of whom had problems of legal papers.
I then asked myself the question of the basic dramatic "what if" that gives rise to stories: what would happen if a renowned artist would offer a refugee to become his artwork to solve his paper problems?
Thus was born Sam Ali. And so the combined portraits of several refugees became the pulse and impulse of the story that began to come to life thanks to a main character who orchestrated my synthesis and my feelings towards the strangeness of our times.
The Man Who Sold His Skin is Kaouther Ben Hania's fourth feature film, produced by Cinetelefilms after Challat of Tunis (2013), Zaineb Hates the Snow (2016) and Beauty and the Dogs (2017), which screened at the official selection of Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2017.
It is absolutely natural to renew a successful experience. Of course, there is the human side of a collaboration that works wonderfully well and the success of the three first films, at festivals as well as in movie theaters, in Tunisia, France and around the world.
The first three films were distributed in several dozen countries but this new project has an even more international scope than the preceding ones. Indeed, with The Man Who Sold His Skin, Kaouther Ben Hania signs a universal piece of work that will be filmed in the East and the West, a mixture expertly balanced between a poignant love story, the tragedy of refugees and the ruthless world of contemporary art.
Beauty and the Dogs started its brilliant international career in the official selection of the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes 2017, has won multiple prizes and received an outstanding press reception and an enthusiastic public reception.
Our goal with this new project, which is more ambitious, more international and which will be shot in several countries, is to compete in Cannes or Berlin or Venice, and be part of the most important festivals in every region of the world like Toronto, Sundance, Tribeca or Busan.
Cinetelefilms
2018: We Could Be Heroes by Hind Bensari
2017: Beauty and the Dogs by Kaouther Ben Hania
2017: Writing on Snow by Rashid Masharawi
2017: Love of Men by Mehdi Ben Attia
2016: Zaineb Hates the Snow by Kaouther Ben Hania
2015: Borders of Heaven by Fares Naanaa
2014: Challat of Tunis by Kaouther Ben Hania
2012: It Was Better Tomorrow by Hinde Boujemaa
2012: Cursed Be the Phosphate by Sami Tlili
Tanit Films
2018: Sheikh’s Watermelons by Kaouther ben Hania
2018: Amin by Philippe Faucon
2018: Weldi by Mohamed Ben Attia
2017: Beauty and the Dogs by Kaouther Ben Hania
2017: Burning Hope by Lotfi Achour
2016: Hedi by Mohamed Ben Attia
2015: Fatima by Philippe Faucon
2011: The Disintegration by Philippe Faucon