Sam French
Writer. Director. Producer.
After earning his MFA in film production from USC, Sam sold his car, packed everything he owned into storage and moved to Afghanistan. He ended up living and working there for five years, producing and directing documentaries for the UN, NGOs, aid organizations, and the media, including HBO, BBC, CNN, Channel 4 News and Al Jazeera. In 2012, he wrote and directed “Buzkashi Boys,” which was the first narrative film since 2001 to be filmed entirely on location in Afghanistan. “Buzkashi Boys” was nominated for an Academy Award in 2013.
Sam is back in Los Angeles and has been writing and developing feature film projects, including "Hunting Hope," an action thriller about the ivory trade starring Chinese actor Wang Leehom which Sam is slated to direct in the fall of 2019. Sam is currently in post-production on the feature documentary “In-Justice,” about two heroic Afghan women fighting for their freedom after being imprisoned for moral crimes. He has directed two episodes of the Emmy award nominated documentary series Religion of Sports, and is currently in production on the documentary “Ahmad Zahir,” about the legendary singer who became the voice of a generation from Afghanistan’s golden age in the 1970s.
Sam believes in the power of storytelling to connect people across different cultures. He believes that if we lift up our voices and share our stories we can change the world.
He lives in Los Angeles. But that could change at any moment.
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Frequent Collaborators:
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Awards and Festivals
