Israeli director Guy Nattiv's first English-language film, "Skin," has been acquired for distribution in the U.S.
Distributor A24 purchased the distribution rights in conjunction with DirecTV after the film's successful debut at this year's Toronto Film Festival.
"Skin" is a narrative film based on a documentary from 2011 titled "Erasing Hate," which tells the story of Bryon Widner, a neo-Nazi who is trying to leave the skinhead culture he joined as a young man and make changes to his life. As part of his recovery, he decides to remove all his racist tattoos, a process that takes several years.
In Nattiv's film, Widner is played by Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot"), who underwent a physical transformation for the role that required him to put a huge amount of weight and spend hours in the makeup chair to have his character's tattoos applied.
Critics have likened his performance to that of Edward Norton in "American History X," in which Norton plays a white supremacist who reforms after a stint in prison.
Nattiv started to gain fame for his previous films: "Strangers" – which was short-listed for an Academy Award – and "Magic Men," as well as "The Flood," a prize-winning family drama starring the late Ronit Elkabetz. For the past few years, Nattiv has lived and worked in the U.S.
"Skin" is expected to open in 2019.
