Paolo Natale's project is a ‘portrait of male emotional education exploring the links between bodily perception and power relations in a contemporary context of patriarchal masculinity’ Director Paolo Natale’s experimental hybrid documentary/video-essay, “Our Raised Skin” (“Nuestra Piel Levantada”), is currently in advanced development as part of Madrid Film School’s (ECAM) incubator program. It’s one of the five projects selected for La Incubadora’s ninth edition. Even though Natale says the film is not autobiographical, he draws from the fact that he, his father and his grandfather all suffered from the same compulsive eating disorder.
Gutiérrez Arrieta and Natale studied together at ECAM and they have received development funding from the Region of Murcia and La 7, Murcia’s regional television channel. They are seeking other sources of funding in Spain and Italy, where Natale is from. They are planning to shoot at least parts of the film in the summer of 2027.
Variety interviewed Natale about the film. You say the film is about male bodies and the fear of its touch. Paolo Natale: This film is written from a very specific and precise observation of the dynamics that drive relationships of power and violence against bodies within the family, but drawing on reality is just one further layer, and I believe the project straddles the line between situational portrayal and theatrical staging.
I’ve always been aware, ever since my childhood, that I had a problem with food. Or rather, an emotional problem that was managed through food and, consequently, a sense of the violence directed at obese bodies and all that this entails in various spheres. I didn’t know how to put this into words until I was 23.
I gradually realized that there was a pattern, passed down through the male figures in my family via their upbringing. A way of managing emotions that involved food. I’ve internalized this, just as my father did.
It’s very common for men with eating disorders to feel shame and guilt. This is something that often leads to delayed diagnoses. We tend to associate bigorexia with men.
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