Cherien Dabis (born 1976)[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 2009,[2] and in 2010 received a United States Artists (USA) Fellowship.
[4] In March 2022, Dabis was named Laureate for Cultural Excellence by the Takreem foundation for her work on authentic Arab representation in Hollywood.
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.
[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".
[11] 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.
[7] Amreeka was Dabis' debut feature film and she says it is "loosely based on things that happened to us during the first Gulf War".
After discovering that a cookie box containing her life savings has gone missing at the airport, Muna decides she needs to find a job.
However, her many qualifications do not secure her a high-paying job, and so she has no choice 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-9-11 and Iraq War context.
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.
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 man.
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.
[8] She also mentions Mike Leigh, John Cassavetes, and Robert Altman as personal influences, as well as films such as The 400 Blows, Bicycle Thieves, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, A Woman Under the Influence, Working Girl, Midnight Cowboy and In the Mood for Love.