Samir Mallal was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is best known for directing three documentaries: Discordia, Bombay Calling and Nollywood Babylon His first film Discordia (2004) co-directed with fellow Concordia University graduate Ben Addelman follows three students during the aftermath of the Netenyahu Incident at Concordia University in Montreal in 2002. His third film, Nollywood Babylon (2008) with co-director Samir Mallal, a documentary co-produced with The National Film Board of Canada in association with the Documentary Channel is about the explosive popularity of Nigerian movies.