Anouar H. Smaine

Anouar H. Smaine was born in Algiers, Algeria in a family of artists,[6][7] revolutionaries [8][9][10][11] , and politicians.[12] His mother was a French professor and his father an actor, director and playwright. Due to the nature of his father's work in film and theatre, Smaine grew up travelling between the cities of Algiers, Constantine, and Paris before moving to the United States in his teen years. For him, the early 1990s were times of uncertainty, reflection, and even confusion as his native country of Algeria sank into a violent civil war which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people amongst which were many of his father's artist friends, journalists, and intellectuals [13][14] making him fear for the life of his own father for over a decade. Having lost some family members as well as childhood friends in the Algerian civil war, Anouar often wondered about how to bring people with conflicting views of the world to talk to one another, understand each other's points of views, respect differences that exist in the world, and finally live in peace. The answer would come to him many years later when he would use his filmmaking and storytelling to tell stories of human conflict and misunderstandings,[15] dialogue and universal brotherhood.

Smaine received his B.A. in Computer Information Systems and Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University[16] and two master's degrees in Arts and Public Administration/Political Science from Eastern Michigan University.[17] He also attended film school at the New York Film Academy [18] in Los Angeles, California and received his training in directing, producing and screenwriting.

Smaine's immersion in the arts and film in particular, started at a very early age. As both his parents were busy with their respective careers, his father would often take him to different film sets and play rehearsals he was involved in. At the age of 9 he took his first acting steps in "Cri de pierre" [19][20][21] (Translated as "Cry of Stone"); a social drama. In Paris, Anouar H. Smaine learned more about the impact of the arts on the human condition, human history and world cultures. Under the influence of his father and some artists who were family friends, he became more acquainted and drawn into the world of theater and drama (among those are French playwright Henri Cordreaux,[22] comedian Hassan Belhadj, and international painter Jean Pierre Bellan [23]). After moving to the US and completing all of his formal education, he began a long and arduous journey of collaborating with a diverse array of filmmakers in Los Angeles. His writing, directing, producing, and acting included different films amongst which are "Axis of Evil",[24] "Honor Among Thieves",[1] "Reign", "Sharia",[25][26] "12 Strong", and the latest "Battle Fields" [27][28][29][30][31] in which he brings to the big screen the story of a US veteran of the Iraq war (played by Sean Stone - son of film director Oliver Stone) and an Iraqi driver living in Los Angeles as a refugee (played by Anouar H. Smaine himself). The film aims to raise awareness about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans and civilians alike and also attempts to highlight the humanity that exists in people regardless of race, faith, or nationality.

As actor

• Cri de pierre (1986) as Reda
• Axis of Evil (2010) as Hossam
• Reign (2012) as Faisal
• Sharia (2014) as Robert Brooks
• Honor Among Thieves (2013) as Vincent
• Battle Fields (2017) as Rasheed Al Mashta
• 12 Strong (2018) as Talib
• Fruit of my Honor (2018) as Nabeel

As director, producer, screenwriter

• Axis of Evil (2010) (as writer, producer, director)
• Menages (2011) (as producer)
• Honor Among Thieves (2013) (as producer)
• Screw it (2010) (as producer)
• Sharia (2014) (as producer, director, writer)
• Battle Fields (2017) (as writer, director, producer)

• Anouar H. Smaine official website
• Anouar H. Smaine at IMDb