Available ebook formats: epub
Lewis Sarmed Alsamari is an Iraqi-British actor, best known for his leading role in Universal Studios’ Oscar-nominated, BAFTA winning movie ‘United 93’, and the BAFTA winning BBC film ‘Occupation’.
Alsamari is also a trans-media producer, video games publisher, screenwriter and published International author known for his acclaimed autobiography ‘Out of Iraq’ published by the Penguin-Random House Group in 5 languages across 35 countries worldwide. Crown Publishing USA published the book under a new title ‘Escape from Saddam’ in Canada and the USA.
The book chronicles Alsamari’s real life story as an Iraqi soldier back in the 1990’s who escaped Saddam Hussein’s brutal army & military intelligence.
While escaping, Alsamari was shot in the leg, chased by and almost eaten alive by desert wolves crossing into Jordan. He continued arduously fleeing across the Middle East and South East Asia to finally reach the UK - where he grew up as a child - and sought political asylum.
Alsamari had to return back to the Middle East on a stint operation to rescue his family who were being tortured by the same Iraqi military intelligence he was due to serve. The book is on its way to becoming an adaptation for the screen. Alsamari trained as a British lawyer, then retrained as an actor at the prestigious London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) and is a black-belt Muay-Thai fighter.