Born in Spain, raised in Germany, and based in Berlin, Samer Halabi Cabezón is a storyteller with ideas running through his bloodstream. Samer started his university education in philosophy, but life and work intervened. Samer slid into a successful career in project management and marketing, where he was able to work creatively and internationally for over a decade. Despite his success, Samer dreamed of returning to his roots, he wanted to approach big ideas using the skills he had gained in his career. His dream of making films was born. In 2011, Samer threw his career to the side in exchange for an education in multimedia and production. After completing some basic training at the Bildungswerk Kreuzberg in Berlin, he spent
some time working as a freelance video-journalist. In 2014, he sharpened his editing skills with a course at the esteemed Filmhaus Babelsberg. Samer has shot several short-docs, one of which appeared in the 2011 British Shorts competition. In 2012, he began planning for the production of his first feature-length project STRASSENSAMURAI, which he produced and edited. Samer lives in the Berlin neighborhood of Kreuzberg.
Cinematographer & DP
Shane Thomas McMillan is a photographer, filmmaker, and educator based in Berlin, Germany. Shane was born and raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, where his interest in storytelling began.
From 2005 to 2010 he studied journalism, German language and culture, and international development studies at the University of Montana. He then moved to Berlin as a Fulbright scholar, where his work included photographing German politics for the Associated Press, working as a producer on documentary films, and reporting on the country’s refugee and migrant populations. Shane’s work has been featured in the Guardian, The World, Slate, and the New York Times.
When he is not shooting, Shane teaches documentary photography and filmmaking at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine. He hasn’t met a well-crafted beer, steel-framed bicycle, or library he didn’t like.
Editor
An experienced television editor with more than ten years of experience in magazines, documentaries and live broadcasts, Edward Müller „Eddy“ is passionate about good stories. When he heard about the STRASSENSAMURAI project, he was immediately hooked. Upon joining the team he enriched the film with his ideas, experience, and a search for new forms of storytelling.
Color Grading
As a singer, Belén has soul running through her blood and always hits the right note. Belén studied film in Chile and went on to supplement that knowledge at the Filmhaus Babelsberg, working in editing, compositing and color grading. She has a radical eye for good pictures. And as Italian-Chilean, she knows both with good food, as well as how to deal with self-confident Europeans. All of these ingredients transform good taste into convincing images, as you will see in STRASSENSAMURAI .
Sounddesign
Mirjam Emmenegger lives in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1999, she completed her training as an audio engineer and has worked in various fields of audio engineering. She started as a live engineer, followed by experience in field recording and commercials. Mirjam worked for the first private TV station in Switzerland, where she made some operating experience as a multi-technician. In the Division of On-Air Promotion she acquired first skills in video editing. In 2002 she started working for the technology and production center Switzerland AG (tpc ag), the company behind the Swiss National Broadcasting Company SRF – Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. There her assignments were diverse: as a radio play and audio editor for trailers and jingles she expanded her expertise in the direction of sound design. In her work as a radio drama technician Mirjam is able to refine her knowledge in the dramatic field through working closely with different directors on plots. In 2005 she got further training in digital filmmaking. In 2014 she added a specialization as an editor in Film & TV at the Filmhaus Babelsberg in Germany. There she met Samer and they began their collaboration. Currently Mirjam is working part-time as an audio engineer and sound designer for tpc ag and as a freelancer in video editing, post-production and sound design