Biography
Samir Sarkar is an Indian national award-winning film producer. He has produced 9 feature films and over 75 TV commercials, documentaries and music videos under the banner of Magic Hour Films, an award-winning film production company he founded in 2008. Samir has worked on more than a 100 film productions in different capacities in a career, now spanning over 30 years
"My keen interest in the art of film, photography & music along with my managerial & organizational skills drove me to believe that film production could encompass my key interests and strengths, thus allowing me to express myself in a wholesome, successful manner " says Samir who was born in Singapore and grew up in Pondicherry, a former French colony in India where he was educated at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education where French & English were his primary languages. He further obtained a full scholarship for a diploma in film production at the national film school of France, La FEMIS in Paris. He then trained himself in the field of advertising at Contract (a WPP group advertising agency).
Between 2018 & 2024 Samir produced 9 feature length independent films in 5 different Indian languages. He also has 4 films in production & development including "Starfruits" which was part of the prestigious La Fabrique, a workshop organized by Institut Francais, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.
Samir's first independent feature film production Aditya Vikram Sengupta's critically acclaimed "Jonaki" (Bengali) traveled to several international film festivals and won the Silver Gateway award at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2018. It was also nominated for the Netpac award at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam in 2018. "Jonaki" is an Indo-French co production between Magic Hour Films & Catherine Dussart Productions, an Academy Award nominated production company based in Paris. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
His latest - an animated feature film "Schirkoa" is an Indo French German co production and the recipient of the prestigious CNC Cinemas du Mode "Schirkoa" premiered at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2024 and went on to win the Netpac Award for Best Asian Film. The film released theatrically in Germany and the Netherlands in 2024
His feature film production "Paka" was an official selection in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival TIFF 2021 and received positive several reviews. It is now streaming on Sony.
Arun Karthik's "Nasir" (Tamil), Samir's recent Indo Dutch feature film production traveled to 32 international film festivals winning 11 awards till date. It has been rated as one of India's top 10 independent films for 2020. "Nasir" was nominated for the coveted Tiger Competition at the 49th International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2020 and went on to win it's prestigious Netpac Award. It also won Fipresci India's Grand Prix award in 2021. The film received rave reviews from several international trade magazines including the Hollywood Reporter, Screen and Variety.
"Kalla Nottam" (Malayalam), won Samir his first National Award in 2021. This experimental production also won the Best Indian Film award at the Kolkata International Film Festival 2020.
Samir is the Executive Producer on "Moha" - a mythological tale directed by Santosh Sivan
Psychological horror movie "Nirvana Inn" (Hindi) starring Adil Hussain (Life of Pi), "Harami" (Hindi) starring Emraan Hashmi and "No Feet beneath the Ground: (Bangladesh's official entry to the Academy Awards in 2023) are Samir's other feature film productions. All 3 films premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2019, 2020 & 2021 respectively.
Samir offered production support and consultancy on Ang Lee's Oscar winning feature film "Life of Pi" and was associated on the project for over 8 years, working with several reputed directors attached to it including Oscar nominated director Jean Pierre Jeunet.
Samir, who speaks 7 languages, has played the pivotal roles of Executive Producer and Line Producer on several international feature length projects, series and documentaries including a feature film for ARTE (France): "Alexandra David Neel - J'irai au Pays des Neiges", "The Science of Compassion" a feature length documentary by internationally acclaimed director Shekhar Kapur, "La Mesias" a Spanish series produced by Movie Star that premiered at the San Sebastien Film Festival, "Le Plus Bel Ami de L'Homme" a documentary co-produced by Emmy Award winning French company Boreales and France Télévisions, "Kalachakra" a French docu-drama featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama and "Michel Jonasz : portrait" a documentary produced by France's Program33 and Arte along with the participation of the CNC
Samir's documentaries productions for National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, Channel News Asia and others have won him several accolades. "Danger Zone Kabul" won him the Best Documentary at the Asian Television Awards in 2015. India's first Mega Factory episode for NGC featuring the "Hero" motorbike factory was produced by his company Magic Hour Films.
Samir has also produced TV commercial for several multinational brands such as Volkswagen, Honda, BMW, Nissan, Fiat, Diageo, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, FedEx, PUBG Mobile amongst others. His TVC " Warrior Princess" for Forest Essentials directed by French director Carol Denis won 2 awards at the Abbys in 2015.
Before taking on the role of an entrepreneur, Samir worked, for over 10 years, in several capacities, on diverse major productions in the Indian film industry (Bollywood) where he was closely associated with some of the finest names in the the industry including Shekhar Kapur, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Mani Rathnam, Santosh Sivan, M F Hussain, Farah Khan, Ram Gopal Varma, Shahji Karun, Nagesh Kukunoor amongst others.
His flair for languages and his keen interest in travel also got him involved as an assistant director on several international advertising, documentary, and feature film projects including Gaumont's "Hanuman" directed by Frederic Fougea, Shaji Karun's "Vanaprastham" an Indo French co production that premiered in the Certain Regards section of the Cannes Film Festival 1999, "Samsara" directed by Pan Nalin and "Ayurveda - The Art of Being" a documentary by the same director that had a record breaking 2 year theatrical run in France.
In 2023, The Embassy of France in India and the French Institute offered Samir the role of Ambassador of Alumni's for a period of 2 years.
Samir is a regular consultant and speaker at various international film festivals and platforms including the Cannes Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa. He is also a visiting faculty at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, one of India's premiere film schools.
