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At the end of each episode, I ask my guest if they’d like to highlight someone else, given how hard indie filmmaking is. It’s called the indie film highlight. And of course they do. My guest today, Ömer Sami, is the only person who was nominated on two separate occasions and that speaks to both how well respected he is amongst his peers but how groundbreaking his filmmaking is. 

In this conversation, I get to find out why that is, and I think it’s partially due to his interest in psychology. His background gives him the skillset to better understand the human condition and then portray it on film. Or maybe he’s just a fantastic guy who supports his fellow filmmakers. Why can’t it be both? 

In this episode, Ömer and I discuss:

• How does he feel about the respect he’s garnered amongst his peers;
• His unique educational background — he went to LA to study psychology and Denmark for film school;
• How to become a filmmaker in Denmark (important note: neither of us are providing immigration advice!);
• What made him decide to head into documentary?
• His film, ETERNAL FATHER (2023), and how he views the burgeoning “don’t die” movement;
• How he built trust to be able to film such a personal documentary;
• Why is he working on a feature now and the role of short docs vs. short narratives;
• What’s next for him — a feature length doc on the “Indiana Jones of Scotland”;
• What it’s like taking short films to festivals;
• Festivals and filmmaking in Denmark. 

Ömer ’s Indie Film Highlight: BALOMANIA (2024) dir. by Sissel Dargis Morell

Memorable Quotes:

“The question that I was always interested in was what it’s like to be someone in a specific situation. I studied psychology because I was interested in consciousness of what it’s like to be another being. And then I found out that film was actually a much better way of conveying that emotionally.”

“Generally I love working with kids because they have an unfiltered, immediate way of seeing the world.”

“In the case of the kids, my experience is that they have to get bored of it. And when the novelty wears off, that’s when the interesting things start happening. And in the case of adults, I think a lot of documentary is about performance, how intentional that is.”

“Short documentaries are often tied to news outlets, so people are used to consuming shorter form content. And I’m not a snob at all about length. I think it’s ridiculous this idea that the feature is a kind of holy grail of filmmaking.”

“I think often you leave feeling that film could be shorter. It’s very rare that it could have been longer.”

“The shorts that work best for me are the ones that embrace the limits and the constraints of this sort form instead of trying to be a mini feature.”

“The curation is just really important in terms of what is the emotional journey that you go on. [Film festivals] are like having a birthday party and a funeral in the same room.”

Links:

Follow Ömer On Instagram

Watch ETERNAL FATHER Now

Ömer 's Vimeo

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