Yasemin Şamdereli

Yasemin Şamdereli — Biography

Born in Dortmund to a working family of Kurdish Zaza origin, Yasemin Şamdereli completed her early education in Munich before studying at the University of Television and Film Munich. After graduating she worked as an assistant director at Bavaria Film, a period that included work on international productions starring Jackie Chan.

She gained nationwide recognition in Germany directing Alles getürkt! in 2002 and also worked as a television writer. She is best known for Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland (2011), which follows three generations of a Turkish family in Germany, won her the German Film Award and the Bavarian Film Award, and had its U.S. premiere at the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival in San Francisco. Her second feature film, Samia, was released in 2025.