Sami Mermer


Sami Mermer is a Turkish Canadian documentary filmmaker of Kurdish descent.

Biography

Mermer was born in Turkey. He studied Mathematics at the University of Ankara from 1994 to 1996 and from 1996 to 2000, Environment Engineering at the University of Istanbul. He pursued cinema studies at the University of Mesopotamia from 1998 to 2000 followed by studies of French and Cinema Studies at the University of Quebec from 2000 to 2002.
He worked on several documentaries and fiction films, as a director and director of photography. He was co-writer and assistant director of Ax , winner of several prizes and awarded best film in the 2000 Hamburg Film Festival. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, he co-directed, with Aaron B. Smith a short fiction film called Sortie, winner of Compass School for Cinematic Arts 24 Hour Film competition.
The Box of Lanzo, 102 minutes, was his first feature documentary about homeless people which he directed, edited and shot almost entirely in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2006, he collaborated as writer/director & DP with Benjamin Hoekstra on a feature-length fiction project, The Extra shot in both Los Angeles and Michigan, and since reduced to a short film.
From December 2006 to July 2007 Mermer lived in Morocco and launched a production company called Turtle Productions with Hind Benchekroun based in Casablanca. Mermer and Benchekroun were co-writer, co-director and co-producers of Traces of Time, Les Vendeurs ambulants, Le Pompiste and À quelque pas de la ligne.
Mermer has lived in Montreal since July 2007. In 2015, he released in collaboration with Benchekroun the long feature documentary film Callshop Istanbul, about life of refugees from all over the world in Istanbul, a gateway to immigration to Europe.

Filmography

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