Sam Mirpoorian is an award-winning filmmaker exploring societal themes at the intersection of time, isolation, health, science, and introspection.
His debut feature documentary, Greener Pastures, screened at over 50 film festivals between 2023-2024 and won over fifteen awards including the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2023 Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado. The film is executive produced by Emmy Award-winners, David J. Cornfield and Linda A. Cornfield (The Social Dilemma, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Chasing Coral). Greener Pastures was acquired by PBS' Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning series, Independent Lens and made its national broadcast premiere on March 25th, 2024.
His latest documentary short, Safe Place, screened at over 30 film festivals between 2023-2024, won ten awards, and is Oscar-qualified for 2025 after winning the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Short at the 2023 Austin Film Festival. Safe Place was acquired by The New York Times and was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick along with being chosen as Vimeo’s Best of the Month Series for February 2024.
His past doc-short work has premiered via the Tribeca Film Festival, The Atlantic, and NBC/Peacock.
Samuel-Ali was named a PBS Wyncote Fellow in 2023 and is a recipient of the Kodak Motion Picture Film Bronze Award for Excellence in Filmmaking. His work has been supported by Far Star Action Fund, Doc Society, Catapult Film Fund, Exposure Labs, ITVS, The Redford Center, and The Points North Institute.