When I was a teenager, growing up in the UK, my father changed our family name in order to fit in better (Saam Habibollahi became Sam Neave). It worked - he was promoted in his field and my name no longer caused exasperation. But Sam Neave was never entirely mine and as I explore aspects of my Iranian past I find myself drawn back to the name we left behind.
Working as Sam Neave, I have written and directed three features: the first of these, Cry Funny Happy, premiered at Sundance and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. My latest film, Almost in Love, starring Alex Karpovsky and Alan Cumming, was a New York Times Critic’s Pick.
As an editor, I have worked on many award-winning features including Karpovsky’s debut feature, The Hole Story, and Ferenc Toth’s Unknown Soldier (for which I won the Best Editor Award at the Woodstock Film Festival). I was also a long-time collaborator of the renowned Iranian visual artist, Shirin Neshat, and helped to edit her first feature film, Women Without Men, which won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.
In recent years, I was selected as a Directing Mentee for Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative and have been developing several projects for TV networks (including IFC and SONY).
I am Iranian by birth, grew up in the United Kingdom and now live in New York City.
“A director of true vision… Almost in Love is rapturously great.” New York Magazine
“Fascinating… a bravura display of hand-held camera work, sound design and improvisational performance…” New York Times
“A dance that’s perfectly choreographed… constantly engaging.” Washington Post
“Cry Funny Happy is a beautiful, complex, ensemble work and contains some of the greatest acting performances I’ve seen in the last five or ten years…”
Ray Carney (author of Cassavetes on Cassavetes)