Program

Skin on Skin

Storyline

Two men displaced in the hell of the German meat industry. Something lies between them.
Something makes them dream again.

About the film/director

Born in the Black Forest, South Germany. Simon graduated in Fiction Directing from Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The first short film during his studies »Borzaya« screened at festivals all over the world and got shortlisted for the Student Academy Awards. His graduation film »Skin on Skin« was nominated for the German Short Film Award (Lola) and has won multiple awards at festivals worldwide, including winning the Future Frames section at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Currently, Simon is developing his first feature film.

Director’s statement

I am fascinated by spaces and the mutual relationship between people and their surroundings. How do people shape spaces and how do these spaces, in turn, influence the people? Slaughterhouses, as spaces of violence, isolation, and toxic masculinity, are often both extreme
and subtle, they exist at the edges of our perception, deliberately hidden behind walls. A shadow world where the boundaries between legality and illegality often blur, creating spaces of
exploitation – particularly in Germany, one of the world's largest exporters of pork. Workers are deliberately restricted in their personal growth and rendered powerless, as are the characters in our film. Trapped in the German meat industry, they still find moments of connection and mutual support. Surrounded by the bodies of dead animals and the pressure of an exploitative system, they fight to keep solidarity alive. It’s about finding personal freedom in an environment that allows none. About selflessness, love, and the longing for genuine connection – and how this longing provides the strength to reclaim a person‘s dignity.

FILMOGRAPHY:
2025 • SKIN ON SKIN • short
2023 • EVERYBODY LEAVES IN THE END • short
2021 • BORZAYA • short
2020 • I THINK WE’RE HEADED FOR THE END OF THE WORLD • essay short