After the beautiful evening at the summer arena of the Triennale in which we screened Family Romance, LLC by Werner Herzog we are back in the theater, for real!
Thursday, September 24, at 21:30 at Arcobaleno Filmcenter in Viale Tunisia, 11, we will present, in Milan preview, The Man Who Sold His Skin by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Ania in the frame of Le Vie del Cinema with the films from Venezia77.
The film will be presented by Alessandra Speciale, co-artistic director of FESCAAAL and Silvia Jop, director and curator of the Oedipus the King Award, while the director Kaouther Ben Ania will speak in connection.
The Man Who Sold His Skin
The protagonist Sam Ali, an emotional and impulsive young Syrian, emigrated to Lebanon to escape the war. He wants to reach Europe to be reunited with his beloved Abeer but is unable to obtain a visa. His life takes an unexpected turn when, in an art gallery in Beirut, he meets Jeffrey Godefroi, a well-known American artist. The two strike a strange deal and Sam’s fate will change forever: with a Schengen visa tattooed on his back, he will be transformed into a living work of art ready to shake up public opinion.
Moving in the territory of the paradox of contemporary art, the director tells the story of Sam’s fate and his “paralysis” of life: first due to the impossibility of moving freely without a legal status that would allow him to do so and, then, to the ruthlessness of the art market that has made him a body-object to be exhibited – as per contract – in exhibitions and installations, without the possibility of choosing.
A biting and ironic film that questions us about the meaning of the word freedom. The film, which in Venice won the Orizzonti Award for Best Male Performance to Yahya Mahayni and the Oedipus the King Award for inclusion, moves in a balance between different genres, such as comedy, drama and satire, to tell the theme of migration from an unusual point of view. In the cast also an unusual Monica Bellucci, in a role to be discovered.
We are particularly happy to present this film by Kaouther Ben Hania, who often participates in our festival. In 2015 she had won the award for Best African Film with the documentary Le Challat de Tunis. At Venezia77 she presented her latest film The Man Who Sold His Skin, after the great international success she had with the film La belle e la meute.
The film will be presented in two other occasions in the program of Le vie del cinema: Saturday, September 26, h. 19.30 at Arcobaleno filmcenter and Monday, September 28, h.18.10 at Arlecchino cinema. Info HERE.
Le vie del cinema is the event, organized by Lombardia Spettacolo and Agis, that presents in absolute preview in the cinemas of Milan, in the months of June, September and December a qualified selection of films of the Cannes Film Festival, of the Directors’ Fortnight, of the Locarno Film Festival, of the Venice Biennale International Film Festival and of the Turin Film Festival. A unique opportunity to see the films immediately after their releases at the most prestigious festivals. For the complete program of all appointments with the films from Venice 77 in Milan from September 23 to 30 CLICK HERE.