ARAB 2016
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SPOTLIGHT ARAB STARS OF TOMORROW
Samer Ismail Actor (Syria) With his breakout role in The Worthy, the Syrian actor is rebuilding a career that was derailed by the country’s civil war yrian actor Samer Ismail got his big break straight out of Damascus’s Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts when he was cast as the lead in Hatem Ali’s 2012 TV drama Omar, an epic series revolving around the life of Omar ibn Al-Khattab — the second successor of the Prophet Muhammad. The role should have paved the way for a highprofile career but local work dried up as the Syrian civil war took its toll on the country’s once-thriving TV drama industry. “The start of my career coincided with the beginning of the war, so I never really savoured the success of appearing in Omar,” says Ismail. “Although we try to continue to work, the capacity of the local industry has been greatly reduced and a lot of actors and directors have left.”
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‘As an actor, I want to live through these times even though it’s very dangerous’ Samer Ismail
A new chapter in Ismail’s acting career has just opened, however, with his first big-screen role in Emirati director Ali F Mostafa’s dystopian drama The Worthy. Ismail delivers an arresting performance as Mussa, the psychopathic follower of a deadly cult. The futuristic thriller is the latest production from Abu Dhabi film company Image Nation. It is being sold internationally by IM Global under its Anthem label and has been picked up by Cinetic Media for the US. UAE-based Rami Yasin, a producer on The Worthy who also oversaw casting, hopes the role will boost Ismail’s profile both in the Middle East and internationally. “Samer really is made for film,” says Yasin. “He makes it look effortless in front of the camera. I hope that after The Worthy he will get more opportunities
and perhaps even be discovered internationally like Ali Suliman, because he really is of that calibre.” In the meantime, Ismail has recently filmed another Image Nation production, feelgood comedy On Borrowed Time directed by Iraqi writer-director Yasir Al Yasiri. The film revolves around four forgotten residents of an old people’s home
24 Screen International at Berlin February 13, 2017
whose lives are reinvigorated when one of them inherits a fortune. In between shoots, Ismail continues to live in Damascus with his family. From 2014-15, he ran a comedy club in which acts discussed the ongoing conflict, but this has since disbanded and most of the performers are now dispersed across the globe. Ismail, however, says he has no
plans to leave Syria permanently for the time being. “As an actor, I want to live through these times even though it’s very dangerous,” he explains. “I want to see the truth rather than learn about what’s happening via the media.” CONTACT SAMER ISMAIL samer.ismaeel@gmail.com
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