Sam Firstenberg

Sam Firstenberg was born in 1950 in Wałbrzych

Shmulik Firstenberg was born on March 13, 1950, in Poland to a Jewish family. He came to Israel as a baby and grew up in Jerusalem, where he attended Beit HaKerem High School.

After his army service in Nahal, he lived on Kibbutz Mishmar David and performed with the entertainment troupe Shumbetzal. In 1972 he went to the United States to study film at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. There he met producer and director Menahem Golan and worked as an assistant on the set of Lepke.

Back in Israel, he worked as an assistant director on films including Lupo in New York and Operation Thunderbolt, with directors such as Golan, Boaz Davidson and Ephraim Kishon. He also directed a short film shown on Israeli television.

In 1980 he returned to Los Angeles for a graduate degree in film. Golan helped him finish his final project, One More Chance, and he then became a regular director for Cannon Group. He directed 22 theatrical feature films, including American Ninja in 1985, and in 1990 made his only Hebrew film, Neshika BaMetzah.

In 2012 the Cinema South Festival in Sderot held a tribute to his work. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Iris.