Samir (filmmaker)

Samir Jamal al Din (born 29 July 1955), known professionally as Samir, is a Swiss filmmaker, film producer and director.

Life and work[edit]

Samir was born the son of a Swiss mother and an Iraqi father in Baghdad. Samir's full name is Samir Jamal al Din / Samir Jamal Aldin. His family moved to Switzerland in 1961, where he went to school. He attended the School of Design in Zurich (today's ZHdK), completed an apprenticeship as a typographer (1971–73) and subsequently trained as a cameraman with Condor Films. From 1983, he worked as a freelance director and cinematographer. From 1984 to 1991 he was a writer and member of Videoladen Zurich (Video Store Zurich). In 1994, he and documentary filmmaker Werner Schweizer overtook the Dschoint Ventschr [de] film production company.

From the mid-1980s, Samir began to produce his own films. In the 1990s he worked on behalf of Condor Films^[1] as a director of series like Eurocops^[2] and television films for German TV stations. His list of works – as a writer, director and/or producer – now includes over 40 short and feature films for cinema and TV.^[3][4]

In 2006 Samir received the Aargau Culture Award (Aargauer Kulturpreis).^[5]

Samir has chosen to only use his first name, as explained in this quote:

...why? "Jamal al Din means 'beauty of religion'. I do not know how you would feel if you were not very religious, and would always have to say, 'Hello, my name is Beauty of Religion'," says [he] ..."For me Samir is perfect, as that means 'Storyteller'."^[6]

Filmography[edit]

as director (selection)

• 1984 Stummfilm / Silent Film (short film)
• 1985 Schiefkörper-Video / Division Ring Video
• 1986 Morlove – Eine Ode für Heisenberg / Morlove – An Ode for Heisenberg (feature film, also writer)
• 1988 Filou (feature film, also writer)
• 1991 Immer & Ewig / Always & Forever (feature film, also production, screenplay, cinematography))
• 1992 (It was) Just a job (also writer, camera)
• 1993 Babylon 2 (documentary)
• 1994 Eurocops
• 1994 La productrice
• 1995 Die Drei – Hass; Jetzt oder nie; Todesoperation / The Three – Hatred; Now or Never; Death Surgery
• 1996 Tödliche Schwesternliebe / Deadly Sister Love
• 1997 Angélique (Blind Date)
• 1997 La eta Knabino (short film, also screenplay, production supervisor)
• 1998 Projecziuns Tibetanas (documentary, screenwriting, cinematography, editing)
• 2001 Norman Plays Golf (also screenplay)
• 2002 Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs – The Iraqi Connection (documentary, screenwriter, editor, cast)
• 2003 ZwischenSprach / InterimLanguage (documentary, also screenplay)
• 2005 Snow White [de] (feature film, also screenplay)
• 2010 Escher, der Engel und die Fibonacci-Zahlen / Escher, the angels and the Fibonacci numbers (documentary, also screenplay)
• 2014 Iraqi Odyssey (documentary, also production, screenplay, cinematography, editing, cast)

As co-/producer a.o.: documentary film White Terror by Daniel Schweizer (2005), mockumentary Birdseye by Stephen Beckner and Michael C. Huber (2002), feature films Nachbeben / Aftershock by Stina Werenfels (2006), Das Fräulein by Andrea Staka (2006), Opération Libertad by Nicolas Wadimoff (2012), Dawn by Romed Wyder.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Samir at IMDb

Reviews[edit]

Iraqi Odyssey (2014)

• Film Review 'Iraqi Odyssey' by Jay Weissberg, Variety, 12/01/14
• 'Iraqi Odyssey': Film Review by Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter, 10/8/14

Forget Baghdad (2002)

• Forget Baghdad (2002) – Film Review; Born in Iraq, Living in Israel, Pondering Issues of Identity, by Stephen Holden, New York Times, 12/5/03
• Film: Forget Baghdad, Directed by Samir, by Anya Kamenetz, Village Voice, 12/2/03
• Operation Iraqi Boredom, by V.A. Musetto, New York Post, 12/5/03
• Film Explores Identity, But Words Get in the Way, by Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 4/16/04
• Review: ‘Forget Baghdad — Jews and Arabs: The Iraqi Connection’, by Deborah Young, Variety, 12/23/03