Overview

Sam is a young Syrian refugee who cannot obtain a visa to travel to Europe to reunite with his partner Abeer. While making a living off serving cocktails in art galleries in Beirut, Sam meets a contemporary artist with whom he concludes a deal that will change his life forever. The artist proposes turning Sam into an artwork by tattooing a Schengen visa on his back. Obsessed by the opportunity to see his lover, Sam agrees and passes from undocumented refugee status to a work of art internationally solicited, realising that the visa on his back means anything but freedom.

The Man Who Sold His Skin premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the best actor award for Yahya Mahayni (2020). The movie also received the Best Screenplay award at Stockholm Film Festival (2020) and Best Arab Film award at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (2020). The film has also been selected as the Tunisian entry for Best International Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards (2021).

Screening Information

The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020)
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Tunisia
Narrative | 90 minutes
Arabic, English and French with English subtitles

The March Meeting film programme presents award-winning films that investigate the refugee crisis by exploring survival, immigration and freedom. March Meeting 2021: Unravelling the Present, an annual gathering of artists, curators and art practitioners to explore critical issues in contemporary art, will be held between 12–21 March.

Details about the full programme can be found here.

All film screenings begin at 8.30 pm in Sharjah Art Foundation’s open-air Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Art Spaces.