KAOUTHER BEN HANIA / THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN
Director and screenwriter Kaouther Ben Hania, was born in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. She studied commerce in college, then entered the École des Arts et du Cinéma de Tunis (EDAC).
She produced the shorts La Breche (2004) and Me, My Sister and The Thing (2006) before joining the founding team of Al-Jazeera documentaries before moving to Paris in 2008 to pursue a Master’s degree at the Sorbonne.
Imams go to School, her first documentary premiered at IDFA 2010. She also directed several shorts, including Wooden Hand, (2013) and Sheikh's Watermelons (2018) which had a long and successful run on the international festival circuit.
Her first feature, Challat of Tunis (2013) opened ACID in Cannes in 2014 and won the Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma prize at the Amiens Festival. Her feature Zainab Hates the Snow premiered at Locarno in 2016.
Beauty and the Dogs [ANA in 2018], premiered at Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard in 2017, won the Best Sound Creation Award and was distributed in many countries.
Her latest film, The Man Who Sold His Skin, premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2020, won the award for best actor and was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Kaouther currently resides in Paris.