18 Facts About Cherien Dabis

Cherien Dabis was born on 1976 and is a Palestinian American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter.

Cherien Dabis was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Directors to Watch in 2009, and in 2010 received a United States Artists Fellowship.

In March 2022, Dabis was named Laureate for Cultural Excellence by the Takreem foundation for her work on authentic Arab representation in Hollywood.

Cherien Dabis's father is a physician of Palestinian descent, and her mother is from Salt, Jordan.

Cherien Dabis grew up in the small town of Celina, Ohio, and spent many of her summers in Jordan.

Back in the US, Cherien Dabis' hometown was populated predominantly by middle-class families from German backgrounds.

Cherien Dabis's father lost many of his patients, her mother was called an "Arab bitch", and her family began receiving death threats.

Cherien Dabis was 14 years old when she realized that no one was accurately portraying the lives of Arabs in America.

Cherien Dabis saw a great need to change the way in which Arabs were portrayed in the media.

Cherien Dabis says that because she was raised between the Middle East and the Mid-West, she has a unique perspective, one that she wanted to represent in her films.

Cherien Dabis was a writer with the television series The L Word from 2006 to 2008.

Cherien Dabis made her feature film debut with Amreeka which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Cherien Dabis's family receives threats, and her brother-in-law loses patients.

Cherien Dabis's estranged father Edward decides to show up and wants to make amends.

Cherien Dabis began her career as a writer on the popular television show The L Word.

Cherien Dabis has directed episodes of Ramy, Ozark, The Sinner, and Only Murders in the Building.

Cherien Dabis's family had a vast VHS collection of Egyptian films and she describes them as the beginning of her education in film.

Cherien Dabis considers this final film to perhaps be her favorite of all time.