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.
Osamah Sami was born in Qom, Iran, to Iraqi parents. He was cast in several roles on stage in his hometown as a child .[10][11]
Careeredit
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]
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]
Poetryedit
Sami writes a poetry blog, with four main categories: Love, Social Justice, For Dad, and War.[16]
Awards and nominationsedit
2016 – Winner, AWGIE Award, Best Original Screenplay
^"Sydney Film Festival - Foxtel Movies Audience Award". www.sff.org.au. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
^Quinn, Karl (14 August 2017). "MIFF 2017: Ali's Wedding wins The Age Critics Award". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
^"Ali's Wedding wins CinefestOz". Community News. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^ ab"Page not found – The Green Room Awards". {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
^ abMolitorisz, Sacha (8 February 2009). "You're called what?". Sun Herald. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
^ abWebb, Carolyn (4 April 2009). "Actor Sami aims to turn heads for all the right reasons from now on". The Age.
^Neill, Rosemary (28 March 2009). "First Impressions: Claudia Karvan". The Australian.
^"Blanchett-backed film wins $100k prize at CinefestOZ". The West Australian. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^ abKnox, David (29 November 2022). "House of Gods, a tale of faith, family, secrets & lies". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
^"ABC drama House of Gods premieres Sunday 25 February". ABC Help. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.