The Skin

Araz lives at home with his mother, Marhamat, who is a witch. When he discovers that she has bewitched him to stay with her, rather than pursue the woman he loves, he turns to the village elders for help. As Araz strives to get rid of the spell and spends more time with his lover, his mother begins to grow weaker, forcing him to decide between his heart and his conscience. The debut feature from the Ark brothers, The Skin is an Iranian dark fantasy folklore drama musical about love, magic and superstition.

Born in 1989 in Tabriz, Bahman and Bahram Ark are twin brothers who are both graduates of Iranian National Film School and writing and directing the films together. Bahman firstly studied painting and Bahram studied carpet design. They have made a couple of short films and two feature films and received numerous national and international awards for their films, including the Cinefondation’s 2nd Prize for ‘Animal’ in Cannes 2017. The Skin recently won the award for Best Film in Art & Experience Cinema at the 38th Fajr Film Festival in Iran, along with the award for Best Soundtrack. It was also recognised as one of the top films at the festival, as selected by the Association of Islamic Revolution Writers and Film Critics, along with Sun Children by Majid Majidi, the LIFF 2020 opening film.