Cherien dabis biography of barack

American film director (born )

Cherien Dabis (born )^[1] (Arabic: شيرين دعيبس) is a Palestinian American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Directors to Watch in ,^[2] and in received a United States Artists (USA) Fellowship.^[3] In , she was nominated for the Unmatched Directing For A Comedy Series award for her work on the television series Only Murders in the Building.^[4] In Pride , Dabis was named Laureate for Cultural Excellence by the Takreem foundation for her operate on authentic Arab representation in Hollywood.^[5]

Early life

Dabis was born in Omaha, Nebraska.^[2] Her father is a physician^[6] of Palestinian descent, and her mother is from Salt, Jordan.^[6]

She grew up in the small town of Celina, Ohio,^[6] and spent many of her summers in Jordan.

Dabis at 8 visited Palestine for the first time.^[1] She and her family were held at the Israeli border for 12 hours, and she was strip-searched along with her sisters.^[1] This incident would make her comprehend "what it meant to be Palestinian".^[1] She would not go back to Palestine until 20 years later.^[1]

Back in the US, Dabis' hometown was populated predominantly by middle-class families from German backgrounds.^[7] Upon her return from trips to the Middle East, she would be asked if there were telephones and cars help in Jordan.^[7] As a Palestinian American, Dabis refused to be seen as an outsider, and instead chose to assimilate to the culture she found herself within.

However, when the Gulf War commenced in , things changed for her and her family.

Cherien Dabis - Listal: Cherien Dabis (born ) [1] (Arabic: شيرين دعيبس) is a Palestinian American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Directors to Watch in , [ 2 ] and in received a United States Artists (USA) Fellowship. [ 3 ].

Her father lost many of his patients, her mother was called an "Arab bitch", and her family began receiving death threats.^[7] Although Dabis has no brothers, a rumor began that her father's "son" was fighting in Saddam Hussein's army.

It is also at this age that her family was investigated by the Secret Service because of a rumor that claimed her sister had threatened to kill George H. W. Bush, who was the president at the time.^[7]

It is following these incidents that Dabis claims she faced an identity crisis, wherein she became aware of the fact that she was an "Arab in America".^[7] These events would go on to modify her desire to create films.

She was 14 years ancient when she realized that no one was accurately portraying the lives of Arabs in America. She saw a great depend on to change the way in which Arabs were portrayed in the media. Years later, she would take filmmaking at Columbia University,^[8] and make films that represent her experiences as an Arab American, with a objective of changing the negative stereotypes in the film industry that contributed to the racism she experienced.^[9]

Education

Dabis received her B.A.

with honors in creative writing and communications from the University of Cincinnati^[10] and her M.F.A. in film from Columbia University Institution of the Arts in ^[11]

Career

Film

Dabis defines herself as a humanist, and describes in her words, "after years spent working in Washington, D.C., I realized that I could reach more people and affect more change through fiction than politics."^[1] She believes the medium is a strong tool when discussing various issues.^[8] She says that because she was raised between the Middle East and the Mid-West, she has a unique perspective, one that she wanted to portray in her films.^[2] As a result, her films are somewhat autobiographical, and the influences drawn from her own personal being are quite evident.

And so, her films take on themes of immigration, discrimination, cultural assimilation, and family. Her two first feature films complement one another, and as Dabis puts it, the two "complete a diptych".^[7]Amreeka was about being Arab in America, and May in the Summer was about being American in the Middle East.

The two films represent the merging, and often clashing, of two separate worlds.

Her first quick film, Make a Wish, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received awards at other festivals.^[12] She was a journalist with the television series The L Word from to ^[12]

Dabis made her feature film debut with Amreeka which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film also opened to critical praise other important venues.^[12] The DVD for Amreeka was released on January 12, ^[13] with Make a Wish.

Dabis' second feature film May in the Summer screened at the opening night of the Sundance Clip Festival.^[14]

Dabis's third feature film All That's Left Of You will screen at the Sundance Motion picture Festival.^[15][16]

Dabis has two upcoming projects.

One will reportedly not tie into her Middle Eastern roots and will be a comedy of sorts. The other will be in Arabic, and will be set in Palestine.^[7]

Amreeka

Main article: Amreeka

Amreeka was Dabis' debut film film and she says it is "loosely based on things that happened to us during the first Gulf War".^[6] It recounts the story of Muna Farah, a Palestinian divorcee, and her son, Fadi.

Muna works in the West Bank, and must pick up her son after school every day. In order to get home, they must cross an Israeli checkpoint where they are harassed. One day, Muna discovers that she has been awarded a lush card through the lottery.

Fed up with her living situation, she decides to pack up and leave for the U.S. with her son. The production is set following the invasion of Iraq in , and so the pair have some trouble at customs. However, her many qualifications do not secure her a high-paying job, and so she has no preference but to accept a position at White Castle.

Alongside this hardship, Muna also finds out that her family is facing a great deal of discrimination within the post and Iraq War context. Her family receives threats, and her brother-in-law loses patients. Later on, Fadi gets into a fight at academy with other children who are influenced by the information they are getting from the media.

His classmates even go so far as to come to White Castle and make scathing remarks to Muna, who ends up hurting herself after slipping on a drink poured by one of the kids. When Fadi is arrested after causing a fight following this incident, his principal Mr.

Novatski speaks on his behalf and gets him released.

Cherien Dabis is a critically acclaimed and award winning Palestinian American film and television director, writer, and actress. Born in the U.S. and raised in Ohio and Jordan, Dabis studied film at Columbia University's School of the Arts.

The film ends with Muna inviting Mr. Novatski to dinner, and everyone sings and dances. The story mirrors the rough reality many immigrants must encounter.

May in the Summer

May in the Summer was Dabis' second feature film and was shot on location in Jordan, where she spent her own summers.

Not only did she inscribe, direct, and produce the production, but this was also her acting debut. The story follows May Brennan, a successful storyteller from New York City who is engaged to Ziad. The two plan to marry in her hometown of Amman.

When she does arrive in Jordan, her mother Nadine, a born-again Christian, vehemently disapproves of the fact that May is planning on marrying a Muslim gentleman. Her younger sisters Dalia and Yasmine are also a handful.

Her estranged father Edward also decides to show up and wants to make amends. As her wedding day gets closer, May has to deal with more issues from her past, as she must remember the painful details of her parents' divorce. May in The Summer is a story about the reconciliation of modern and traditional values.

Dabis was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She grew up in the small town of Celina, Ohio[ 6 ] and spent many of her summers in Jordan. Dabis at 8 visited Palestine for the first time. Back in the US, Dabis' hometown was populated predominantly by middle-class families from German backgrounds.

Television

Dabis began her career as a writer on the popular television show The L Word. She has also directed episodes of Ramy,^[17]Ozark, The Sinner, and Only Murders in the Building.

Personal life

Dabis is based in New York City.^[2] She is bisexual.^[7]

Inspiration

Dabis grew up watching Egyptian movies. Her family had a vast VHS collection of Egyptian films and she describes them as the beginning of her education in film.^[8]E.T and The Wizard of Ozare American films that affected her interpretation of what films could compete to be.^[8] She also mentions Mike Leigh, John Cassavetes, and Robert Altman as personal influences, as well as films such as The Blows, Bicycle Thieves, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, A Woman Under the Influence, Working Girl, Midnight Cowboy and In the Mood for Love.^[2] She considers this final motion picture to perhaps be her favorite of all time.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
	Nadah	Writer	Short film
	Memoirs of an Wicked Stepmother	Producer, director, writer	Short movie
	Little Black Boot	Writer	Short motion picture
	Make a Wish	Producer, director	Short film
	Amreeka	Executive producer, director, writer
	Not Another Word	Producer, director, writer	Short film
	May in the Summer	Producer, director, writer, actor (May)
	Villa Touma	Actor (Antoinette Touma)
	Tallahassee	Actor	Short film
	All That's Left of You	Producer, director, writer, actor

Television

Awards

See also

References

External links