Sam Mandich
HEY MR.
Leading up to her Catholic confirmation, a sheltered teenage girl befriends a new girl in town who invites her to see the world differently. But as her burgeoning sexuality slips further out of her control, she’s confronted by a new version of herself - one she believes to be possessed.
Biography
Sam Mandich is a biracial writer, director, and dancer from Long Beach, California, whose work examines the emotional architecture of belonging and identity through a distinctly physical and intimate lens. Along with earning an MA in Fashion Film/Photography from the Paris College of Art, she recently earned her MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute where she was invited to the Telluride Film Festival to represent the 2025 class, recognized for her unique perspective as a filmmaker.
Before cinema, Sam's first language was dance. She spent seven years performing and choreographing works in New York before turning to filmmaking, carrying with her an instinct for rhythm, gesture, and communicating through movement.
Sam’s directorial style sits at the crossroads of social realism, intimate lyricism, and corporeal intensity. She is drawn to the textures of lived experience, particularly through the lens of youth, vulnerability, and marginalization. At the same time, she loves to push into the visceral, bodily, and sometimes uncanny territory to shed light on the hidden tensions of coming of age and the fragile threshold between innocence and experience.
For her, collaboration is an act of trust, care and community. She believes that cinema is where empathy takes form, and is one of the greatest tools in reminding people they are not alone.