Amar Somaroo
Directing
- Born
- September 1, 1995 (age 31) · The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Amar Somaroo (born September 1, 1995) is a Dutch film director, writer, and editor of South Asian descent. His work explores themes of diaspora identity, migration, existentialism, and cultural fragmentation through visually immersive and psychologically driven storytelling. He is best known for the composite drama Cyanide (2021), the autobiographical documentary The Place I Call Home (2022), and the television pilot Exodus (2025).
Born in The Hague to Indian-Surinamese parents, Somaroo developed a passion for storytelling during his early teens. In 2014, at the age of 18, he became one of the youngest published authors in Dutch history with the release of his debut fantasy novel The Redemption Tales: Tibet. After studying film directing and editing at Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam, he founded the production company Youth Novel Motions in 2017.
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Somaroo began his filmmaking career with the short film Feathers (2015) and later directed A Woman in Kurdistan (2017), exploring women’s freedoms in Kurdistan from a unique perspective. Alongside narrative filmmaking, he has directed commercial and corporate films for clients including the Dutch Ministry of Defense and worked on productions across South Asia and the Middle East.
In 2022, The Place I Call Home was nominated for Best Documentary at the Septimius Awards, while both the documentary and Cyanide were acquired by Amazon Prime Video. In 2025, he developed and directed Exodus for Dutch public broadcasters NPO and VPRO, earning a nomination for Best Short Fiction at the Jaipur International Film Festival 2026.
Known for
Behind the camera10
- 2025Exodus Director, Writer
- 2022The Place I Call Home Director
- 2021Cyanide Director, Writer
- 2018Anarkali Director, Director of Photography, Producer
- 2017A Woman in Kurdistan Director, Producer, Director of Photography, Editor
- 2017Visions: A tale about Schizophrenia Director, Writer, Executive Producer
- 201621 Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography, Editor
- 2016Unredeeemed Director, Writer
- 2015Feathers Director, Editor, Director of Photography
