Osamah Sami

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Osamah Sami
أسامة سامي
Born
Los Angeles Independent Film Festival
Award

Osamah Sami is an Australian stage and screen actor, writer, and stand-up comedian, born in Iran of Iraqi origin. He is known for his book Good Muslim Boy, and the film Ali's Wedding.

Good Muslim Boy, was the winner of the 2016

New South Wales Premier's Literary Award,[1] and was commended at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards that same year.[2]

Sami co-wrote and starred in

CinefestOz film prize in 2017.[8]

Osamah has also been nominated for a

Green Room Award for Best Male Performer in a Lead Role for Melbourne Theatre Company's I Call My Brothers.[9]

Early life and education

Osamah Sami was born in

Iraqi parents. He was cast in several roles on stage in his hometown as a child .[10][11]

Career

After immigrating to Australia, he began working with a local theatre group and starred in many productions from then on. The play

Trial of Saddam, where he played Saddam Hussein, was written by his father. In 2005 he was part of a theatre group that was prevented from entering the United States to perform the play.[10][11]

He has since gone on to work regularly in film, theatre, and television. He has been cast in several leading roles. In 2009 he played opposite

Saved, directed by Tony Ayres.[12] He also played the lead role in the award-winning Dee McLachlan comedy feature, 10 Terrorists. His guest roles include TV shows including East West 101, Rush, Sea Patrol, City Homicide, Jack Irish, and a regular role in the TV series Kick
.

His theatre appearances include

.

Sami starred opposite Zar Amir Ebrahimi in the 2023 film Shayda. Shayda was the winner of the Audience Award for Best Film after premiering as the 2023 opening night film at Sundance. It was also selected as the opening night film at Melbourne International Film Festival, and went on to win the 2023 CinefestOZ $100,000 film prize.[13]  

Sami co-created and co-wrote a television drama series called House of Gods, which aired on ABC TV[14] and ABC iview from 25 February 2024.[15] The drama centres around an imam and his family as well as the Australian Arab / Iraqi community he leads, with Sami using his own real-life experiences to tell the story of the community of which he is a part.[14]

Poetry

Sami writes a poetry blog, with four main categories: Love, Social Justice, For Dad, and War.[16]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Actor

Feature films

TV work

Stage

  • 2021 – Them (Arts Centre Melbourne)
  • 2020 – The Seagull (La Mama Theatre)
  • 2019/20 – Anthem (Melbourne Arts Festival/ Perth International Arts Festival/ Sydney Arts Festival)
  • 2019 – Gilgamesh (Arts House)
  • 2018 – Good Muslim Boy (Malthouse Theatre/ Queensland Theatre)
  • 2017 – The Sound of Waiting (Brown's Mart Theatre, Darwin)
  • 2016 – Tales of a City by the Sea (La Mama Theatre) – remount/ tour
  • 2015 – I Call My Brothers (Melbourne Theatre Company)
  • 2014 – Tales of a City by the Sea (La Mama Theatre)
  • 2014 – The Container (Big West Festival)
  • 2013 – The Two Executioners (La Mama Theatre)
  • 2012 – Transit.Origin.Destination (A.P.E Sydney)
  • 2011 – Black Box 149 (La Mama Theatre)
  • 2010 – Long Day's Dying (La Mama Theatre)
  • 2009 – Baghdad Wedding (Belvoir St. Theatre Company)
  • 2007 – Hombody/ Kabul (Theatre @ Risk)
  • 2007 – Sinners (La Mamma Theatre)
  • 2006 – Trial of Saddam (A.A.G)

Writer

Books

  • Sami, Osamah (2015). Good Muslim Boy. Hardie Grant Books. .

References

  1. ^ a b "2016 - Multicultural NSW Award". State Library of NSW. 23 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2016". The Wheeler Centre.
  3. ^ "Winners & Nominees". www.aacta.org. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Film Critics Association of Australia | 2017 Awards". fcca.com.au. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  5. ^ "AWGIE Awards Winners List" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Sydney Film Festival - Foxtel Movies Audience Award". www.sff.org.au. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  7. ^ Quinn, Karl (14 August 2017). "MIFF 2017: Ali's Wedding wins The Age Critics Award". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Ali's Wedding wins CinefestOz". Community News. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Page not found – The Green Room Awards". {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  10. ^ a b Molitorisz, Sacha (8 February 2009). "You're called what?". Sun Herald. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  11. ^ a b Webb, Carolyn (4 April 2009). "Actor Sami aims to turn heads for all the right reasons from now on". The Age.
  12. ^ Neill, Rosemary (28 March 2009). "First Impressions: Claudia Karvan". The Australian.
  13. ^ "Blanchett-backed film wins $100k prize at CinefestOZ". The West Australian. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  14. ^ a b Knox, David (29 November 2022). "House of Gods, a tale of faith, family, secrets & lies". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  15. ^ "ABC drama House of Gods premieres Sunday 25 February". ABC Help. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Osamah Sami". Osamah Sami.
  17. ^ a b "Winners & Nominees | AACTA". www.aacta.org. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  18. ^ "Australian Muslim Achievement Awards 2017 Finalists! - Mission of Hope". www.missionofhope.org.au. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  19. ^ a b "AFCA 2018 Film & Writing Awards". Australian Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.

External links