Sanaa Hamri | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1977-11-19)November 19, 1977 (age 47) Tangier, Morocco |
| Alma mater | American School of Tangier |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, music video director, television director, television producer |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Known for | Music videos, Empire |
| Notable work | Something New |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Mohamed Hamri Blanca Hamri |
Sanaa Hamri (Arabic:سناء حمري; born November 19, 1977)[1] is a Moroccan-American film, television, and music video director.[2] She has directed music videos for musicians includingPrince,Mariah Carey,Christina Aguilera, andSting. She is known for her 2010 filmJust Wright and the 2008 movieThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, as well as for her music video for theNicki Minaj song "Super Bass".[3] Hamri made her directorial debut in 2006 with the romantic comedySomething New.
Scholar Shelley Cobb has credited Hamri's work as "[offering] alternative representations of black women that productively engage with and even challenge usual stereotypes, even as they use and conform to mainstream cinematic conventions".[4]: 157
Hamri was born inTangier, Morocco, to Moroccan MuslimMohamed Hamri and Jewish Moroccan Blanche "Blanca" Hamri. Her father came from the town ofJajouka and was a painter and author. Hamri's mother was a teacher. Both of Hamri's parents were part of the creative community in Morocco, which was made up ofex-pats such asPaul Bowles,William Burroughs,Brion Gysin,Timothy Leary,Ted Morgan andTennessee Williams.[5] In fact, Hamri's mother was the long-time secretary toJoseph A. McPhillips III, the headmaster of theAmerican School of Tangier, who was later in charge of Bowles' estate.[6]
Hamri attended theAmerican School of Tangier, where her mother worked. The school was not gender balanced: at one point, Hamri was the only girl on the soccer team and eventually, the sole female student enrolled at her high school.[2] In 1992, Hamri moved to the United States after receiving a scholarship to attendSarah Lawrence College inBronxville,New York. In college, she studied theatre arts and pursued acting. Hamri spent her junior year of college in Paris, and in 1996 graduated fromSarah Lawrence College.[7]
After college, Hamri moved toNew York City in order to pursue an acting career.[2] Hamri struggled through auditions and unemployment before she decided to try working in the production side of the business. She taught herself filmmaking skills firsthand, such as how to use anAvid editing machine.[2] Hamri then moved from seeking an acting career to making videos and was eventually noticed by cinematographer,Malik Hassan Sayeed.[2][8] During this time she worked as an editor of music videos at a post-production studio.
Sayeed, who also produced videos, was impressed by Hamri's work and showed it toMariah Carey, who subsequently hired Hamri to direct a music video.[9] Sayeed also gave Hamri her first editing job for a reggae/hip-hop fusion group calledBorn Jamericans. Hamri then began to take on more work as she became better known.[10]
Hamri's videos include but are not limited toJadakiss's "U Make Me Wanna",Prince's "Musicology",Kelly Rowland's "Stole" andMariah Carey's "Crybaby", "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" and "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)" and Carey's unreleased video for "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life". She has directed videos forNicki Minaj,Lenny Kravitz,Joss Stone,Sting,Common,Raven-Symoné,Eric Benet,Amel Larrieux,Jay-Z,A*Teens, andChristina Aguilera. She also directed the music video for Greyson Chance's "Waiting Outside The Lines".
In 2011 Hamri shot a music video for Nicki Minaj's single "Super Bass." In the video Minaj is portrayed as a "Black Harajuku Barbie", an element which, according to Nina Cartier, satirizes white beauty standards.[3]
According to Shelley Cobb, Hamri's films are often overlooked in "both contemporary black cinema and contemporary women's cinema" because they sometimes fall in the "broad chick-flick category".[4][page needed] She further opines that Hamri's films challenge the "structural silence imposed on black women.[4][page needed]
In March 2005, production began on Hamri's first feature, theFocus Features film,Something New, a romantic comedy starringSanaa Lathan (Brown Sugar,Alien vs. Predator) andSimon Baker (The Ring Two,L.A. Confidential).[11] The film was released on January 29, 2006, and produced byStephanie Allain through her company, Homegrown Pictures, along with the mini-major Gramercy.[4] The film grossed $11,483,669 million and received generally positive reviews.[12] Cobb described the movie as a "feature film about a black woman, written, directed, and produced by a black woman" which she considered "rare".[4][page needed] Hamri's second film as director was 2008'sThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, withAmerica Ferrera,Amber Tamblyn,Alexis Bledel andBlake Lively, which was released on August 6, 2008. The film grossed $44,352,417 and received generally favorable reviews. She went on to directJust Wright withQueen Latifah andCommon, which was released on May 14, 2010. The film grossed $21,570,263 million and received mixed reviews.[2]
Along with directing feature film and music videos, Hamri has directed and produced multiple episodes of television showsNashville,Shameless,Elementary,Desperate Housewives,Grey's Anatomy, along with single episodes ofMen in Trees andGlee. She also directedMariah Carey's live concert documentary,The Adventures of Mimi, andPrince'sThe Art of Musicology andLive at the Aladdin Las Vegas.
Hamri is multi-lingual as she speaks English, French, Spanish, and a Moroccan dialect she learned in her childhood. In 2000, Hamri had a daughter, Laila Hamri Fletcher, whose father is Loyst P. Fletcher, a Los Angeles attorney.[13]
On being a non-white woman working in Hollywood, Hamri states: "I don't feel this huge weight on me by any means," continuing that she is "not an international person" and she wants to be a part of movies "that people from all walks of life can enjoy, or get something out of."[14]
As director unless noted
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