The Man Who Sold His Skin

Pre-film Performance by Western Edge

Westside Event

Theme: Bodies

Theme: Distance

Tuesday 3 May | 7:00PM
Sun Theatre

This event has now ended. Tickets no longer available.


Pre-film Performance by Western Edge

Yaw Dadzie and Betiel Beyin will use this epic thriller as a base to explore power, ambition, fear, desire, displacement and love.

Film Synopsis

Sam Ali, a sensitive, young and impulsive Syrian refugee, flees his country for Lebanon to escape the war. Unable to access a visa to get to Europe and be with the love of his life in Brussels, he accepts a proposal to have his back tattooed with a visa by one of the world’s most provocative contemporary artists. Turning his own body into a prestigious piece of art and exhibited in a museum, Sam will however come to realise that his decision might actually mean anything but freedom.

A biting art-world satire, The Man Who Sold His Skin was the first Tunisian film to be nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature, and made its director the first Muslim woman to achieve that honour. Director Kaouther Ben Hania draws on real life events in her ambitious and conversation-inducing drama, one not to be missed on the big screen.

Film Info

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Country: Tunisia, France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany

Year: 2020

Duration: 104 minutes

Language: Arabic, English, French with English Subtitles

Genre: Narrative

Awards: 2021 Academy Award Nominee for Best International Feature Film - Tunisia; Glocal Images Nominee for 2021 Cyprus Film Days International Festival

Screening Location: Sun Theatre, 8 Ballarat St, Yarraville VIC 3013 | Plan your visit to the Sun Theatre

Accessibility:

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Rating:

Festival Selection

Supporting Partner

Pre-film Performance by Western Edge

Yaw Dadzie

Betiel Beyin

Yaw Dadzie and Betiel Beyin will use this epic thriller as a base to explore power, ambition, fear, desire, displacement and love. Weaving together established and original scenes from theatre and film, Western Edge invites you to witness the local talent and ideas from artists here in Melbourne’s West before being transported to Syria and Europe for The Man Who Sold His Skin.


Western Edge is a not-for-profit arts organisation creating safer spaces for young artists from Melbourne’s west to tell their own stories, with their own voice, in their own way.  

Working across three core programmatic areas we create opportunities for young people and artists to explore creativity, learn new artistic practices, gain on-the-job employment, and develop as artistic and cultural leaders. 

Our vision is for a thriving community of next generation cultural and artistic leaders borne from Melbourne’s West. Our company’s every move is informed by the many different cultural backgrounds and knowledge systems of our community of young artists – we believe they have unbridled genius and an exciting ability to speak truth to power, shift paradigms, and recenter the conversation around what matters.

Our approach to practice is grounded in decolonial theory and celebrating intersectional diversity. Beyond our artistic programs, we provide learning experiences to corporate, government and community organizations through fee-for-service workshops. 


The Sub30 Collective

The Sub30 Collective is a new ensemble who have been training through Western Edge’s inaugural Level Up Professional Development Program.

For two years, Amarachi Okorom, Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi, Leigh Lule, Michael Logo, Betiel Beyin and Yaw Dadzie have been training with Western Edge in a part-time training program to upskill and support their growth in the performing arts sector, including a residency with Malthouse Theatre. For HRAFF, members of the Sub30 Collective will perform original and established scenes of their choosing from theatre and film which bring these international films even closer to home. Taking inspiration from the film’s themes of love, loss, heartbreak, grief, ancestry, migration, ambition and power, the Sub30 artists have curated a 15 minute live performance to ground international works on a local stage. You are invited to witness a preview of the most exciting ensemble to ever be created in a global pandemic (!) and in celebrating the next generation of cultural and artistic leaders borne from Melbourne’s West.