Samir (filmmaker)


Samir Jamal al Din, known professionally as Samir, is a Swiss filmmaker, film producer and director.

Life and work

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, completed an apprenticeship as a typographer 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. In 1994, he and documentary filmmaker Werner Schweizer overtook the film production company.
From the mid-1980s, Samir began to produce his own films. In the 1990s he worked on behalf of Condor Films
as a director of series like Eurocops
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.
In 2006 Samir received the Aargau Culture Award.
Samir has chosen to only use his first name, as explained in this quote:

Filmography

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

Reviews

Iraqi Odyssey ' by Jay Weissberg, Variety, 12/01/14
Forget Baghdad ', by Stephen Holden, New York Times, 12/5/03