Ömer Sami is a filmmaker of British, Irish and Turkish descent. He tells intimate character-led stories, which explore existential themes of belonging, legacy, and loss of innocence.
His latest film ETERNAL FATHER (2023) screened at IDFA, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Sheffield DocFest among others, and will be released by The New Yorker. His film INTO THE BLUE (2023) screened at Telluride, Hot Docs, DOK Leipzig, was Cinema Eye Honors shortlisted and received a SIMA Award. His debut short SAM AND THE PLANT NEXT DOOR (2019, The Guardian) was nominated for an IDA Documentary Award, Critics Choice Award, Danish Film Award, received a Vimeo Staff Pick and Ekko Shortlist Award, and premiered at the 2019 Camden International Film Festival.
He received the 2024-2026 “Young Artistic Elite” fellowship from the Danish Arts Foundation. He holds a BA in Psychology from UCLA and graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2023. Currently he is developing his first feature documentary with producer Monica Hellström, at Ström Pictures.
Email: omer.sami@me.com
Phone: +45 71 82 88 58
Instagram: @_omersami
Art / Performance
Bakken / 2021 / co-director
Hess is More: Apollonian Circles / Mikkel Hess & Tue Biering / 2019 - 2020 / cinematographer, editor
Artistic Practice: Jakob Kudsk Steensen / Andreas Koefoed / 2019 / editor
Cadavre Exquis / Jesper Just / 2019 / co-editor
An Occupation of Loss / Taryn Simon & Boris Betram / 2018 / assistant editor
Education / Workshops
Filmmaking workshop for youth with migratory experience / Danish Refugee Council Youth (DFUNK) / 2022 - 2024
Video series on what ‘community’ means for diverse Danish youth / Danish Youth Council (DUF) / 2022
Crowd-sourced film on what ‘development’ means for diverse youth worldwide / Columbus Forlaget / 2020 / director, editor
Salaam and Dialogue / community & youth engagement / 2017
Commercial
Slow Time / photo series / Grete / 2022
My Grandfather’s Letters From the War / podcast visual trailer / Podimo / 2021
The World Piece / commercial / &Co. for Momondo / 2019 / assistant editor
Ferry Tales / podcast / DFDS / 2019 / editor
Echoes of Nordic Design / podcast / Nordic Council of Ministers / 2019 / editor