Cherien Dabis

Cherien Dabis is a Palestinian American film and television director, writer, and actress whose work explores Arab American storytelling and representation in Western media. After experiencing racist and Islamophobic incidents as a teenager, Dabis sought to influence the portrayal of Arabs in film and television. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing and communications from the University of Cincinnati and a Master of Fine Arts in film from Columbia University School of the Arts.

Dabis began her professional career as a writer and co-producer on Showtime's "The L Word" before gaining international recognition with her debut feature. Her first short film, "Make a Wish," premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received awards at Aspen Shortsfest, Cairo International Film Festival for Children, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, and Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. Her feature film debut, "Amreeka," premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and received multiple international awards. The film was nominated for a Best Picture Gotham Award and three Independent Spirit Awards, and was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of the Year by the National Board of Review. "Amreeka" became the most-screened Arab-directed film in U.S. cinema history.

Dabis continued her work with "May in the Summer," a feature in which she also starred alongside Bill Pullman, Hiam Abbass, and Alia Shawkat. The film opened the Sundance Film Festival and had its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The screenplay earned her a Time Warner Storytelling Grant, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art Grant, and the Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award. Dabis is a Guggenheim Fellow, USA Rockefeller Fellow, Humanitas Prize winner, and recipient of the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award. She is an alumna of the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab, Film Independent Directing Lab, and Tribeca All Access, where she received the inaugural L'Oreal Paris Woman of Worth Vision Award.

In television, Dabis has directed episodes of acclaimed series, including Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building," for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series. Her episode, "The Boy From 6B," was notable for its use of American Sign Language and visual storytelling. Dabis became the first Palestinian Emmy nominee. She has also directed episodes of Hulu's "Ramy" and Netflix's "Ozark."

Dabis wrote, directed, produced, and starred in her third feature film, "All That's Left of You," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is an epic drama tracing love and loss across three generations of a Palestinian family. Her acting credits include roles in Netflix's "Mo," Amazon Prime's "Fallout," and Tarek Saleh's "Eagles of the Republic." Dabis's body of work in film and television continues to focus on the experiences of underrepresented communities, contributing to the ongoing evolution of American cinema and Arab American representation.