Cherien Dabis

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. Most recently, Dabis was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking episode "The Boy From 6B" on Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building", starring comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short alongside Selena Gomez. Told from the perspective of a deaf character and with only one line of spoken dialogue, Dabis relied on ASL, compelling visuals, and the soundtrack to tell the story. In addition to her directing work on season 1, Dabis directed two episodes of season 2. Dabis got her start with her debut feature Amreeka, which she wrote and directed. The film premiered at Sundance in 2009 and went on to win the coveted FIPRESCI International Critics Prize in the Director's Fortnight at Cannes. It won a dozen more international awards and was nominated for a Best Picture Gotham Award, 3 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture, and named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of the Year by the National Board of Review. It landed Dabis on Variety's "Ten Directors to Watch" list that same year. Dabis made history when the film broke records in its theatrical release by becoming the most-screened Arab-directed film in US-cinema history. Dabis forged new ground with her second feature May in the Summer, in which she also stars opposite Bill Pullman, Hiam Abbass and Alia Shawkat. The film opened the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and had its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival before being released worldwide. It's available to stream on Amazon. A true multi-hyphenate, Dabis is known for standout episodic directing work on Emmy award-winning television shows such as Hulu's "Ramy" and Netflix's "Ozark," as well as her writing and acting for television. Past writing credits include "Empire," "Quantico," and "The L Word" and in the world of acting, she just wrapped on Scott Z. Burns' upcoming Apple TV+ anthology series "Extrapolations.'' Next, she will appear as a recurring guest star on "Mo," comedian Mo Amer's new half hour comedy for Netflix.