Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Man Who Sold His Skin” has been sold by Paris-based Bac Films International to further territories. The movie will represent Tunisia in the Oscar race for best international feature film.
“The Man Who Sold His Skin” world premiered at Venice, where it won the best actor award for Yahya Mahayni. The movie went on to have its Middle East premiere at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, where it scooped the best Arab film nod.
Bac Films just sold the pic to Japan (The Klockworx) and Italy (Wanted Cinema). Previous sales were inked for Switzerland (Trigon Film), Portugal (Paris Audiovisuals), Denmark and Norway (Another World Entertainment), Taiwan (Creative Century), Brazil (Providence Filmes), Benelux (Cinéart), Turkey (Bir Films) and Russia (Ten Letters). Marine Goulois, who heads international sales at Bac Films, said the company was in discussions to close the U.S. and has submitted the film for the Golden Globes.
The movie stars Mahayni as a Syrian man who decides 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 Man Who Sold His Skin,” which shot in English, Arabic and French, also stars Monica Bellucci. The pic is Ben Hania’s follow-up to “Beauty and the Dogs,” a drama about the rape of a young Tunisian woman by policemen, which world premiered at Cannes in Un Certain Regard in 2017.
“The Man Who Sold His Skin” was produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha at Paris-based Tanit Films and Habib Attia at Tunis-based Cinétéléfilms, in association with Guillaume Rambourg, and Lassaad and Rafik Kilani, with the support of co-producers Twenty Twenty Vision, Kwassa Films, Laika Film & Television, Metafora Media Production, Sunnyland Film (ART Group), Film I Vast, Voo & Be Tv and Istiqlal films.
The film’s distributors are Eksystent Distribution in Germany, FilmLaden in Austria, Folkets Bio in Sweden, Hakka Distribution in Tunisia and Art in the Middle East.