Sami Mermer is a Turkish Canadian documentary filmmaker of Kurdish descent.
The Box of Lanzo, 102 minutes, was his first feature documentary about homeless people which he directed, edited and shot almost entirely in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In 2006, he collaborated as writer/director & DP with Benjamin Hoekstra on a feature-length fiction project, The Extra shot in both Los Angeles and Michigan, and since reduced to a short film.
The film looks at Xalko, a kurdish village in Turkey, deserted by its men who have gone to Europe or America.
In 2019, Mermer made his last film, a short fiction called (The Room), in which he gave a little rolls to his daughters, Zeliha and Louna...