On Saturday, June 11th, 2011 an American Film Institute (AFI) Graduate Student Short Film named “Thief” won the most prestigious prize in the world that a student film can win! Thief won the Gold Medal Award in the Narrative category from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences aka the Oscars. Now, I had [...]
I am very pleased to announce that Thief, an AFI short I had a leading role in, this past Saturday, April 9, at the 32nd Annual College Television Awards (aka the Student Emmys), THIEF won the top two prizes! The film took home 1st Place Drama and the Directing Awards. I’m very proud and grateful [...]
Los Angeles, CA, March 09, 2011 –(PR.com)– After a successful career as an indie rock singer and a theatre actor in Egypt and Chicago, Ayman Samman is now a working actor in TV and film in Hollywood. He graduated from Helwan University as an Egyptologist and guided tourists throughout the Middle East. His natural storytelling skills [...]
Here’s a link to Part 3 in case you missed it. My brother heard that the US Embassy is arranging for evacuation flights to American citizens. We called the embassy when we got home and no one was there because it was Sunday? We called the next day and no one answered so I had [...]
Here’s a link to Part 2 in case you missed it. So, no cell phones and no Internet. Only landlines and TV. Government controlled channels continue to say that the protesters are merely a few thousand while other channels say they are in the 100s of thousands. Violence is rising from the police forces through [...]
Here’s a link to Part 1 in case you missed it. So, on January 16, 2011 my wife (who’s American) and I went to visit my family planning on staying there for three weeks through February 6, 2011. Our first week in Cairo was amazing as usual. Time with family and friends. We also had [...]
So, in case you don’t know, I am Egyptian – American. Born and raised and lived in Cairo for a quarter century before moving to the USA. One of the main reasons that made me wanna leave Egypt was the fact that corruption was rampant and you either had to join it or pretend it [...]
THIEF is an AFI Graduation Thesis by director Julian Higgins. The story takes place in pre and post Saddam Iraq. “The film was written in English then translated into Arabic for the all-Arabic cast” said Samman. “We shot the film in a valley north of LA that resembles an Iraqi landscape. This was my very [...]
Actor Ayman Samman finished 2010 on high note taping a comedy sketch for the Conan O’Brien show. “I was very excited when I got the call from my manager” said Samman. “I’m a big fan of Conan and to be part of his show is a blessing”. The sketch was shot at the Los Angeles Coliseum [...]
Actor Ayman Samman joins the Fire Rose Productions in their 8th annual 10 minute play festival. The festival starts by a contest for playwrights to submit their work of which a select few plays are picked to be produced. “I’m very excited to be part of the festival! There’s nothing like the energy of a [...]
