Samy Benammar

Samy Benammar is a Montreal-based filmmaker, photographer and art critic. Drawing from his Algerian roots and working-class upbringing, he creates films that combine reflective documentary techniques with a tactile, experimental approach. His notable works, including Adieu Ugarit (2024), Avant Seriana (2024) and Kaua’i’o’o (2023) have been presented at festivals such as the BFI Festival, RIDM, and Prismatic Ground, and are distributed by WFG and CFMDC. This work expands into a photographic practice that serves as both a counterpoint and a complement to his films, exploring the potential of the still image to reflect a language freed from narrative constraints. He holds a masters in research-creation from the Université de Montréal, focusing on the circulation of Middle Eastern war images, and is pursuing a PhD on colonial photography in Algeria’s Aures region. His practice is characterized by a layered approach that reflects the ambiguities of memory and migration. His cinematic and photographic gestures aim at reconciliation—reviving childhood memories through visual exploration—while simultaneously underscoring the rupture caused by irreversible migration, where the past remains in memory rather than reality. His use of artisanal analog film techniques critiques colonial ethnographic imagery through a decolonial reenactment. His images, often on the brink of disappearance, thus explore the tension between physical and and imagined spaces, reflecting on the interplay of memory, history, and identity.