Cherien Dabis

Cherien Dabis (born 1976) ^[1] (Arabic: شيرين دعيبس‎) is a Palestinian American director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Directors to Watch in 2009.^[2]

Background

Dabis was born in Omaha, Nebraska ^[2] to a Palestinian father and a mother from a Jordanian family from Salt, Jordan.^[3] She grew up in Ohio and Jordan. Dabis received her B.A. with honors in creative writing and communications from the University of Cincinnati ^[4] and her M.F.A. in film from Columbia University School of the Arts in 2004.^[5]

Career

Her first short film, Make a Wish, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and received awards at other festivals.^[6] She was a writer with the television series, The L Word from 2006 to 2008.^[6]

Dabis made her feature film debut with Amreeka which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film also opened to critical praise other important venues.^[6] The DVD for Amreeka was released on January 12, 2010^[7] with Make a Wish.

Awards

Amreeka

2011 Intersections Film Festival

• Official Selection: Opening Night^[8]

2010 Independent Spirit Awards

• Nominated: Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
• Nominated: Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay^[9]

2009 Cairo International Film Festival

• Won: Best Arabic Film - Cherien Dabis (director), Christina Piovesan (producer)
• Won: Best Arabic Screenplay - Cherien Dabis (director)^[10]

2009 Cannes Film Festival

• Won: Fipresci Prize - Cherien Dabis
• Official Selection: Directors' Fortnight^[11]

2009 New Directors/New Films

• Official Selection: Opening Night^[12]

2009 Sundance Film Festival

• Official Selection: Dramatic competition Sundance^[11]

2009 Zurich Film Festival

• Won: Variety’s New Talent Award

Make a Wish

2007 Aspen Shortsfest

• Won :BAFTA/LA Award for Excellence - Honorable Mention
• Won:Special Recognition

2007 Cairo International Film Festival for Children

• Won : Ministry of Culture's Awards for Arabian Feature & Short Films
• 3rd place: Bronze Cairo - Best Short Film

2007 Chicago International Children's Film Festival

• Won: Adult's Jury Award - Certificate of Merit Live-Action Short Film or Video
• Won: Peace Prize

2007 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival

• Won:Press Award - International Competition
• Won: Special Mention of the Jury - International Competition

Selected filmography

• May in the Summer (2013) (Director, Writer, Actor)
• Amreeka (2009) (Director, Producer, Writer)
• The L Word (2006–2008) (Writer)
• "Make a Wish" (2006) (Director, Producer, Writer - short film)

References

External links

• Cherien Dabis at the Internet Movie Database