During the 1990 Gulf War, Palestinian filmmaker, writer, and actress Cherien Dabis experienced racism for the first time while living in the United States. These experiences shaped her path toward filmmaking and commitment to Palestinian storytelling.
In this episode, we hear more from her about her beginnings and delve into her latest Oscar short-listed feature film, All That’s Left of You, which traces a Palestinian family’s journey from the Nakba of 1948 to 2022, examining intergenerational trauma and life under occupation. Cherien explores
In addition to that, we spotlight her other notable works, including Amreeka, Ramy, and Mo, and discuss how comedy and TV have brought the Palestinian story to the American mainstream.
This episode is hosted and produced by Tala Elissa. Our executive producer is Zina Jardaneh. Our associate producer is Zeena Shehadeh. Social media by Leen Karadsheh. Research and copywriting by Dima Sharif. Branding by Sara Sukhun. Theme music includes excerpts from Clarissa Bitar, The Popular Art Centre - مركز الفن الشعبي & Rim Banna.
This conversation was recorded on November 26, 2025. You can watch it on YouTube, here.
Tarwida is a series of conversations that bring Palestinian arts, culture, and heritage to the forefront. We hear from artists, including writers, filmmakers, musicians, architects, culinary practitioners and more about their very own Palestine.
In a nutshell, if you want to know more about (Creative) Palestine, this is the place to be.
Follow us on socials @tarwidapodcast
--
Relevant links and Resources:
Cherien: [00:00:00] You know, we we're used to hearing numbers. You know, Palestinians are often nameless, faceless numbers in the headlines, but we're not really, we're not really privy to the emotional story behind what is happening behind the headlines, you know, and that's really what I wanted to focus on.
Tala: Marhaba, everyone. Welcome to Tarwida. I'm Tala Elissa. Today I sit in conversation with a Palestinian Emmy nominated filmmaker, director and actress, Cherien Dabis. She joins me from New York. Cherien is a pioneer in Arab-American storytelling contributing to a wide range of films and television series, including her debut feature, Amreeka, as well as Ramy, Mo, and many others.
Her latest feature film, All That's Left of You, has been recently shortlisted to the Oscars. Welcome, Cherien. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you so much Tala. Thank you for having me. You know, usually whenever I have these conversations, the first thing I do to prepare for them, I go into Wikipedia [00:01:00] just to get myself acquainted to your backgrounds and all of that.
And it's usually the simplest part, but with you, I was shocked. I mean, it starts,, uh, there's a lot of action going on starting early on, like in the early, uh, early life section. You have a non-existing brother who joins Saddam. And then, uh, there's-
Cherien: -that's on Wikipedia? That's amazing. I haven't, I, I haven't checked out my page.
Tala: Yes. And then there's a secret service investigating your family, and I'm like, this is exactly why I don't trust Wikipedia. But then I heard you talking about it on other places. So it's true.
Cherien: It's a story I've told many times. I told the story many times when my first feature Amreeka came out because Amreeka was inspired by what happened to my own family during the first Gulf War when, you know, the small town that we lived in turned against us and we got death threats on a daily basis.
You know, rumors that [00:02:00] my father's son was fighting in Saddam Hussein's army. My dad had five daughters. I have no brothers, so, you know, it was, uh, and then the Secret Service came to my high school to investigate a rumor that my older sister, 17 years old, threatened to kill the president.
Tala: The president.
Wow.
Cherien: Yes. Of the United States. Just to be clear, not of like the Student Council
Tala: Of the United States. This must have been so intense. I mean, you were, you were young back then. How old were you when this happened?
Cherien: I was in my first year of high school. So I was a freshman in high school.
I was young for my grades, so I think I was 13. And yeah, it was life changing. That moment for me, experiencing that kind of crazy level of racism was really a political awakening. And it was a moment where I became really obsessed with why. [00:03:00] Why are people treating us this way? Why are we getting death threats?
Why are people blaming us for, you know, their relatives having to go to war in Iraq? And that was really when I woke up to the power of film and television and news media and the fact that the stereotypes that were being perpetuated, you know, in these different kind of areas were directly impacting my family.
You know, the fact that these stereotypes were dehumanizing us and depicting us as inherently violent and I realized people are believing these representations and it just sort of dawned on me how unbelievably dangerous it is, and I became obsessed with the media. I became obsessed with tracking how we were being represented across films, across television, in the news, and I think that it was really the beginning of my [00:04:00] journey towards becoming a filmmaker and really vowing to change the way we were represented and to put forth authentic stories of who we actually are.
Tala: And this is all before 9/11. I can't even imagine what happened. Post 9/11.
Cherien: Well this was 1991.
This was
way before 9/11.
Tala: Exactly.
Cherien: I mean, 1991 Gulf War. When there was no representation of us, no remotely authentic representation of us. And so 9/11, I was already in film school. I had just started film school. I had moved to New York City. September of 2001, the week before 9/11.
Tala: Wow.
Cherien: So I was in my first week of film school when 9/11 happened.
And you know, in some ways history was repeating itself. The US was invading Iraq again, and I was like, okay, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. And now I have to tell the story of what happened to my family during the first Gulf War. [00:05:00] And that was when I started to write Amreeka.
Tala: Mm mm I loved Amreeka. It was one of the earliest Palestinian movies I watched, and I really, really enjoyed it.
It really represents the struggle between, you know, wanting to stay in Palestine, but also having to deal with all the checkpoints and the Israeli military, but also dealing with all the hardships that come when you travel to, you know, to being in the diaspora. And although it isn't an autobiographical movie, I felt like you depicted a lot of your emotions and your personal story into that.
Cherien: Absolutely. I mean, I feel
like every single one of those characters is a different part of myself and, you know, some version of me at some point in my life, you know? The film was very much inspired by my family, you know, so it was-I mean, it's probably the most autobiographical film that I've made in that sense.
Tala: Mm-hmm. And for those who haven't watched it, can you just give a short description about what it's about? [00:06:00]
Cherien: Yeah. So the film is about a Palestinian single mom who immigrates from the West Bank to rural Illinois with her teenage son, you know, with dreams of a better life, for him especially, and finds herself faced with the hardship of starting life over in a place that doesn't really want to accept her and that is racist towards Arabs, Muslims, and especially Palestinians. So, you know, it's really a story about, about belonging and home, you know?
Tala: Mm-hmm.
Cherien: Especially for us Palestinians is like this question of "where do we belong?" "Where is our home?" I think has always been very much a part of what I explore in my films.
Tala: Mm-hmm. And what was your relationship to Palestine while you were growing up in the US?
Cherien: So my dad is Palestinian from the West Bank. He was exiled in 1967, so it took him many years to get foreign citizenship just to return to visit, you [00:07:00] know, his family and the only home he'd ever known. And so I was the first of my family born in the US and raised mostly in the diaspora, but returning to Palestine and Jordan often as a kid.
So it was direct experience with Palestine, but it was also the experience of being a Palestinian in the diaspora and therefore Palestine being kind of a yearning, a longing, a place in our hearts that, you know, we didn't really get to go to very much, but family lived there and we were constantly worried about them.
And the news was always on in our household. And, you know, my father's heartache and pain about his own exile and about the deteriorating situation in his homeland was just something that was constantly there at home every single day. You know, it was something that I think was passed down. And it's, you know, an inheritance of grief and trauma that I explore in my latest film.
All That's Left of You.
Tala: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's what I also wanted us to talk about next. For those of you who haven't watched [00:08:00] the film, it follows the Palestinian story from the Nakba until 2022. And it follows the exile of the family from Yafa to a refugee camp in the West Bank and how this trauma is transferred to generation upon generation, upon generation.
So it's really the story of every Palestinian.
Cherien: Yeah, definitely. And I've had so many people say to me you've told our story. This is our story. You know, this is the story about the ongoing struggle of all Palestinian people, you know, whether in Palestine or in the diaspora. I think that we can all see ourselves in this movie in some way.
Tala: Hmm. I personally could relate very much because actually my father is from Yafa and he was born in 1948.
Cherien: Wow.
Tala: And they also left Yafa to Ramallah. So it was also like a personal trajectory of my own story.[00:09:00]
film: I know you are wondering. Why we are here,
but for you to understand, I must tell you what my family went through.
Tala: I would love to know from you more about the name, why you chose this name in particular.
Cherien: You know, I found myself intrigued by this idea of what's left, you know, what endures after so much loss.
Tala: Mm-hmm.
Cherien: And I wanted to focus on that. I wanted to focus on kind of what's left, you know the title of the film has double meaning.
Tala: Mm-hmm.
Cherien: It's speaking to all that's left of you in terms of what's left of this family. After they've endured all of these decades of, you know, kind of [00:10:00] tragedy and personal loss, but it also speaks to what's left of Palestine, you know, all that's left of you, all that's left of Palestine, all that's left of the land.
So, you know, in many ways I found it to be this kind of poetic title with a double meaning, and I really, I don't remember at what point in the writing process it struck me, but I found it. Yeah. To be just really evocative of what the film is honoring in some way. It's honoring what's left of us, it's honoring our strength and resilience and how we've survived all of this.
Tala: Mm-hmm. And I'm also curious to know how you chose the time period. So obviously you have to cover the Nakba in 48, but then you immediately jumped to the first Intifada and then to, if I'm not mistaken, 2022. I was curious to know if it was a conscious decision to skip 67 and the second Intifada, because these are also milestones in Palestinian history, but as you said, it's almost impossible to cover the entirety of Palestinian history [00:11:00] in one movie.
So you had to pick.
Cherien: I had to choose,
exactly. And you missed 1978, which is, so it goes, the film goes from 1948 to 1978. Then to 1988, which is the first Intifada and then to 2022.
Tala: Oh, yeah, yeah. True.
Cherien: And for me, the story is not about the politics. It's not about the political events. The political events are really in the background of the film.
The film is about the family and how they endure all of these political events, right? That are imposed on them. Mm-hmm. And so I really let the family dictate the time periods. And when I jumped to the second time period after 1948, I wanted it to be about life under occupation. So 1967 would've been telling the story of the occupation, but I wanted to tell the story of the family as they've already been living under occupation and how that occupation is impacting them.
So I chose the 1970s.
That was
kind of when the occupation, you know, it was like it had already been in place for 10 years. [00:12:00] It was beginning to become more violent. You know, checkpoints hadn't really formed yet. That started to happen in the late 80s, so I jumped then to the first Intifada, which by that point, Palestinians had been living under occupation for two decades.
And they were fed up, right? So I wanted to capture really the, uh, it's almost like I was more interested in the psychological evolution of the Palestinian kind of mentality, the Palestinian rebellion. You know, it was like, how do I get from 1948 to the first Intifada? Like, what is the most important thing to tell?
Oh, it's like the difficulty of life under occupation. Then we get to the 1980s and you can imagine like, oh, this family has already been living under occupation for two decades. And you can see through this teenager who was born into the refugee camp, born into occupation, has seen his father humiliated probably more than one time, but at least one time in the film that we [00:13:00] witness.
Therefore we understand how in some ways this Intifada happened.
Tala: Talking about witnessing the humiliation, that scene of the dad being humiliated by Israeli soldiers in front of his kid who was probably maybe seven or eight, something like that. I found it very insightful. Like we hear about these stories all the time, and I also visit the West Bank in Jerusalem, and I do understand, but seeing it on screen and seeing the details and it takes its time, you know, and how it affects the boy later on.
For those of you who haven't watched the film, he really starts, I would say maybe looking down at his father or being disappointed by his father that he allowed this to happen, and it really made me think of all the psychological, I don't know, issues that parents and kids go through when this [00:14:00] happens.
Cherien: , In so many ways this movie really is about the impact of the Nakba, of the ongoing displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people and the occupation on people, and how families are changed, how relationships between family members are changed. And so what I really wanted to show is the difficulty of parenting in these conditions, the difficulty of parenting under occupation, where you often lose your authority in front of your kids and your kids realize, oh my God, my parents can't protect me. Right? And so what [00:15:00] happens when that happens? Because I think it happens quite often. I've seen it happen and you know, within my own life, you know, that scene in particular was somewhat inspired by my own experience traveling to Palestine when I was eight years old.
My family was held at the border between Jordan and the West Bank. You know, we were on our way into Palestine to visit my father's family in his village in the West Bank, and so we were held by Israeli soldiers for 12 hours. My parents were interrogated again and again, you know, the soldiers searched through all of the contents of our suitcases, and then they ordered all of us to be strip searched.
Well, my father was livid. He, you know, confronted the soldiers, trying to talk some sense into them, trying to understand why we were still there. And the soldiers started screaming at him. He started screaming at them, and I thought they were gonna kill him. And that was really the first time in my life that I saw my father powerless.
That I really understood that here, my dad has [00:16:00] no power and anything could happen and that stayed with me. That was really my first memory of traveling to Palestine. And it was the first moment in my life where I understood what it meant to be Palestinian, where I viscerally understood and experienced what it meant.
And I wanted to take that experience and show how much more devastating that is for Palestinians who live there. For Palestinian kids who, you know, realize, my parents can't protect me here. I'm on my own. You know, and I, I think that that has a devastating impact on parents and children in the West Bank, and it's part of the violence that Palestinians experience.
You know, we talk about occupation, we use this word. It's a very benign word, occupation, for something that is horrifically, brutally violent. Palestinians are killed daily under occupation, and there's different kinds of violence, right? And in this scene, we really witness not just the threat of physical [00:17:00] violence, but we witness the psychological violence that is used to break Palestinians down.
And I don't know that it's something that people think about. You know, we're used to hearing numbers. You know, Palestinians are often nameless, faceless numbers in the headlines, but we're not really-we're not really privy to the emotional story behind what is happening behind the headlines, you know?
And that's really what I wanted to focus on
Tala: For sure. And I think it was a very successful scene in portraying all of these emotions you just described. Tell us more about the behind the scenes, the making of the film and the challenges you faced. Because from what I understood from previous interviews, you were planning to film in Palestine, but then 7th of October, I think, started so you had to find other places.
Cherien: Yeah, so we prepped the entire film in Palestine. I arrived in May of 2023 and I worked with my crew on the ground for about five [00:18:00] months. The film is a co-production between Germany and Cyprus, so we had always planned to shoot about 90% of the film in Palestine and 10% in Cyprus. So I had crew, like foreign crew arriving, you know, mostly from Germany throughout the summer of 2023.
And then finally more of them arrived in early October of 2023. We had done an unbelievable amount of work over the course of all these months. Of course, you know, we found all of our locations. We'd begun construction on many of our locations. Of course, we cast the entire film.
Cherien: And we had amassed a giant warehouse of beautifully crafted, carefully, you know, curated props and set dressing from all of the different time periods, like really historical relics that had never before been seen in cinema. You know, I had a huge Palestinian crew that was so excited about working on this historic film.
Cherien: And then, of course, October 7th happened, and the production was based in Ramallah at the time, [00:19:00] and things became extremely tense, you know, very, very quickly.
West Bank cities were being sealed off. Checkpoints were closing. There were rumors that the border was gonna close. It became very clear very quickly that we were not gonna be able to move around, that we were not gonna be able to continue prepping and that we might not be able to make the film. So we began evacuating people very, very soon after October 7th, and, you know, everything was escalating so quickly.
We pivoted to Cyprus and thought, okay, we'll start, you know, we'll start the Cyprus part of the shoot, you know, we'll shoot Cyprus. We will hopefully then be able to return to Palestine. Of course, we had no idea that the situation would just continue to escalate and escalate. We were never able to return to Palestine.
We ended up pivoting and going to Jordan, which is where we shot the majority of the film in the Palestinian refugee camps in the north of Jordan. And then finally we shot the last chapter of the film in Greece. [00:20:00] But we were looking for Palestine everywhere but Palestine, and we had to recreate Palestine outside of Palestine.
So suddenly this production that was mostly supposed to take place in Palestine was now taking place in four different countries. You know, Cyprus, Jordan, Greece, and Palestine, you know, we were getting everything out of there that we could and, and we also, we found subversive ways to shoot there. You know, we shot some things remotely because there were many places that had never before been seen in cinema that I really wanted to capture.
I really wanted the specificity of certain places in Yafa, for example, like the Clock Tower square. So I really wanted the movie to be extremely authentic so that even our Nakba survivors from Yafa could watch the movie and though they've never gotten to return home, they could feel like through the movie they've gotten to return home even just for a couple of hours.
Tala: I think you did an [00:21:00] amazing job with that because, for example, I didn't notice that at all. It just felt all coherent. It felt like it's the same place. So it's amazing that you were able to do that and that you had the courage and the, you know, the morale to continue. And I wonder, what kept you moving?
I think,
look, we were watching a genocide. You know, we suddenly found ourselves making a movie about what was happening as it was happening. We're making a movie about the Nakba, the ongoing Nakba as we're watching a bigger Nakba unfold, you know, something more catastrophic than we've ever seen and a genocide and so I think that we all felt a real sense of urgency that we have to make this movie. This movie suddenly became so much more vital, so much more relevant. It has to come out as soon as possible. And I think also in some ways. You know, I mean, look, it was a very emotional [00:22:00] experience, you know? Yeah. And making a movie about what's happening as it's happening is emotionally draining.
You know, we were living the Nakba, we were living it, we were recreating it. Some days we were shooting scenes that looked an awful lot like the scenes coming out of Gaza. You know, so it was, it was tremendously intense.
.
But in some ways, the movie was a gift for all of us who worked on it because it became a container for all of our emotions, for our grief, for our love, for our outrage, for our compassion, and we all threw ourselves into it.
It gave us a sense of purpose to be able to create at a time of such destruction.
I'm so glad you took it this way because it could have easily gone the other way round, you know, it could have disappointed you even more. But thanks to people like you who feel the urgency as you said.
What does it make you feel that this film has been submitted to the Oscars? What does international recognition mean to you?
Cherien: Well, really [00:23:00] it's very practical what it means to me. You know, like it means more press, it means more eyeballs on the film. It hopefully means more people going out to see it in movie theaters because they're hearing more about it.
So, you know, for me, I think what I want the most is for this film to be seen as widely as possible. And that's ultimately what any filmmaker wants. And certainly what I want with this film, you know, knowing that it's really coming out at such a crucial time.
Tala: .
And I also want to congratulate you on your acting role in the film.
Cherien: Thank you.
Tala: It was, it was very emotional and you were able to capture the different phases of the character's life. So tell us more about why you decided to act in it.
Cherien: You know, look, the actor in me always wants to play the part. Like if I'm writing a script and there's a role for me, the actor in me is like, pick me, pick me. You know? And the director's like, hold on. We need to make sure you're right for the part. The director always wins, by the [00:24:00] way. So the director's always a little bit more cautious and wants to make sure that I can do it all that I can pull it all off. And with this film, you know, it was a bigger film than I'd made previously with a really big cast, a lot of child actors acting and directing in my second language, so I was more cautious about putting myself in it.
But I started to realize there were just too many parallels between me and this character, you know, as the storyteller making the film. She's the storyteller within the film, you know, I'm exploring this film as kind of-it's like an exploration of my grief and trauma and this character is faced with a moral dilemma and is attempting to make some kind of meaning of her grief and trauma and so she's exploring that within the film. There was a lot about this character that I felt I could really relate to, and there were certain characteristics of hers that I wanted to explore within myself.
Tala: Can you tell us more about the story and the character [00:25:00] for people who haven't watched it?
Cherien: Yes, so my character's name is Hannan and she plays the mother of Noor, the teenage boy who we meet at the beginning of the film who is at a protest during the first Intifada, and he's met with a moment of violence that really rocks our world, really rocks the family and changes the family trajectory.
I, as the mother am telling the story of what happened to him. Like within the film. The mother character is telling the story of what happened to him. And of course we only find out at the end of the movie who she's telling that story to, but she brings a lot of heart and compassion and a bit of a spiritual point of view to the film.
And so I really wanted to explore that and felt that I had like a very kind of specific point of view on her as a character. So at some point in my process of pre-production, when I felt comfortable that I had like a really amazing team around me who would really look out for me, then I went ahead and made the decision to cast myself in the film.
Tala: And how do you juggle between all these [00:26:00] different roles? I mean, you're a writer, director, actress, , and do you feel like you lean towards one role over the other.
Cherien: You know, I feel like all three of these roles, writing, directing, and acting, are all part of the same storytelling process, and I really just am in love with the process.
I love doing all three, and when I can do all three, I prefer to do all three. You know, I've acted in things and I, it's, I love it, and it's very satisfying from the point of view of I'm not responsible for everything. I'm only responsible for my role. And so there's something that's very empowering about, just like, all I have to do is this one thing, you know?
But I really love, I really love a challenge, and so when I get to do all of the things, I really thrive, you know, I really feel like I'm that kind of person. I mean, you know, it makes me crazy, but I've had to learn to embrace it. I'm the kind of person that likes to keep myself a little uncomfortable.
Because that's where I grow [00:27:00] within my work, you know? So, you know, there are moments where doing all of them is, it simplifies the process. You know, it's like you don't have to communicate to the writer 'cause you are the writer. You don't have to communicate to the actor 'cause you are the actor. You know?
So it streamlines the process in many ways. But it can also be very challenging, you know? It can also be overwhelming and, um, the acting and directing, sometimes, you know, it's a bit of a mind game, you know?
Tala: Mm-hmm.
Cherien: When you're directing, you're looking at the world through like the widest possible lens.
You know, you know everything. You see everything very clearly. You know what everyone's gonna say, what they're gonna do, and when you jump into the role of the actor, you zoom in, to the longest possible lens, and you're like, okay, now I have to forget everything else and just focus on this one perspective, this one thing that this character wants.
That's it.
Tala: Mm-hmm.
Cherien: And so you're
constantly zooming back and forth between these two radically different perspectives.
Tala: What is your trick for getting into different characters' shoes? Because you told us about Hanan, but again, [00:28:00] going back to, um, May in the Summer you played a different role, and now we're gonna talk about Mo, you also have a different role.
Cherien: I mean, everything begins with the analysis of what's written, right? So you take that analysis of the character that's written on the page, and then you develop a whole world outside of that. You know what happened in this character's childhood that makes them make this particular decision.
You know and so really just getting to know like that person, like creating the world of that person, I think is just so helpful. And then sometimes decisions like what they look like, like do they wear makeup? Like what kind of hairstyle? Like sometimes changing your hairstyle can be helpful, like with Hanan, I just saw her with a big curly head of hair and it, for me, it was like creating a look that was very different from myself and then allowing myself to disappear into what this character looks like, how she dresses, you know, [00:29:00] what her life was like growing up, like coming up with her family story and how many siblings she has and the hardest moments in her life.
You know, when does this character cry? What makes her cry? What does she, you know, what are the things that were so painful in her life that kind of bring her to tears? And, um, I think there's a lot of work that can be done sort of around that and like really creating the world of the character and then really finding-so it's like figuring out who this character is that is different than me, but then really finding those touch points where I can really deeply relate to the character. You know? . And bring parts of myself, 'cause we're always bringing parts of ourselves to different characters.
Tala: True, true. Um, Cheriene, aside from film, you have, um, an amazing experience in TV. You've directed episodes from Ozark, Only Murders in the Building, Ramy. How does working in television differ from working in film, whether in directing or acting?
Cherien: Well, [00:30:00] you know, television is interesting because , unless you're doing a pilot, of course, where you are kind of designing the look of the show, then through the pilot. For the most part, you jump into television as, um, as an actor or director.
You jump into a world that has been already created in some ways. Right? There are already like rules of what this world looks like visually there's a tone of what the show is, right? So as a director, you have to kind of work within the parameters that have already been set, and then as an actor as well, you know, like you, you're coming onto a particular show.
So you have to understand the tone of the show. Is this a comedy? Is this a drama? If it's a comedy, what kind of comedy? If it's a drama, like how serious is there humor? Um, you know, uh, so I think tone is really important in TV, you know, in film. You know, if you're creating your own film, then you are the, the creator of all of that.
The tone and the-so you already know all of that. You're kind of creating the rules.
Tala: Mm-hmm.
Cherien: But in
[00:31:00] TV often you're coming into rules that have already been set.
Tala: Hmm. What about the viewers? Do you feel like the impact of film versus TV, uh, differs to the viewers?
Cherien: I mean, that's a good question. You know, I feel like there's some really exciting things happening in television now, like, you know, so much more.
I mean, I would say even TV is more exciting than, like, certainly than Hollywood. Studio movies, TV's taking more risks, I think than than like Hollywood studio films. Um, I think that both can have like a lot of impact really. Like if you look at, um, my first film, Amreeka, and then you look at shows like Ramy or Mo, they're actually quite similar, you know? Like there's, there's some overlap there for sure. Maybe television gets viewed more widely, you know, I don't know, like, certainly like a show like, Mo, which was on Netflix probably got seen a lot more widely than Amreeka.
Tala: Yeah. I think if I want to speak on my behalf, I think with the TV [00:32:00] shows you get more hooked because there's this binge, you know, there's this, uh, binge element,
Cherien: there's
this quality of,
Tala: yeah,
Cherien: yeah.
Tala: And you need to keep on watching, but like with the film, you just watch it one time and that's it. But for example, with Mo the characters kind of, start living with you and you, uh, you would want to know what happens, and especially the cliffhangers in Mo, I think they were very well played, so you'd want to know more and more about what happens and Mo, in particular, managed to put Palestine into mainstream American comedy.
Cherien: It definitely got people kind of talking about it and understanding it, and it came, you know, season two especially came at such a, such a vital time.
You know, I think people were really interested and I think, people discovered the show more in season two, I believe.
Tala: Yeah,
yeah, true.
Cherien: Because of everything that was happening politically. And so the show really took off in, its in its second season, you [00:33:00] know, it was like season two came out, and because of everything that was happening, people discovered the show and watched season one and two.
Tala: Mm-hmm.
Cherien: You know, I only wish the show could have continued. I think there was so much more story to tell and it was like, you know, the show told so much amazing story, about the Palestinian experience, and I think really brought it to like a mainstream American audience.
But I really think that audience is hungry for more.
Tala: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the female characters in Mo are also very interesting because they have strong characters, um, your character and the mother's character. So, tell us more about that particular role you played.
Cherien: Yeah, it was a really fun, such a fun experience working on that show.
And, and also just like there was so much heart. Like the show is so much reflective of Mo himself, you know, it's all heart and humor and working on it really was like just such a beautiful [00:34:00] experience. Season two was particularly fun for me because, you know, the writers put me at odds with my mother, and so I got to have some, kind of, fun, meaty scenes with her where it's sort of like, you know, my mother represents, uh, my mother on the show represents kind of tradition and I'm bringing more modernity. And so it's like, you know, tradition and modernity are kind of clashing in this season two. And these, you know, two strong female characters, sort of, clashing. So that was, that was a really fun role to play.
Tala: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, you've previously obviously used humor in your, feature films and Mo is a comedy. How do you think comedy plays into, delivering the Palestinian message and, in Palestinian media in general?
Cherien: Well, you know, comedy, it's funny because I think that, that comedy is such a great way to, um, [00:35:00] to create change, like I think that there's really a lot done in comedy and very often you'll see, like, comedies being the first shows that depict a certain people. You know what I mean? Like it's interesting that comedy is very often the, kind of, what pushes the boundaries to begin with and kind of paves the way for others to kind of then not only do comedy, but maybe also bring drama and then bring other genres.
But I think a lot of it often begins with comedy because it's so disarming. You know, you can talk about serious political matters. But when you make light of them, then people are more willing to maybe engage. And so I think that comedy plays a really big role in helping to kind of bring our experience to the mainstream.
And I think that it's no surprise that, you know, a half hour comedy by Mo Amer is what brought the kind of Palestinian experience to mainstream America.
Tala: Mm-hmm. And, uh, that's why we were very excited to know that you will be [00:36:00] directing an adaptation of Sharon and My Mother-in-Law. So tell us more about that and when should we expect it to come out?
For those of you who haven't read the book, it's a book by Suad Amiry that has been turned into a play by actually our colleague Afaf Shawwa Bibi. She is Tarwida's other host. And now there's a plan to turn it into a film. So tell us more about this, uh, collaboration.
Cherien: Yes, I mean, I've always loved the book.
I read it, um, gosh, I read it a long time ago.
Cherien: But it has stayed with me. You know, it's, um, it's, it's just hilarious. Like I love Suad's point of view. She brings this kind of dry, ironic sense of humor, to a really absurd story of life under occupation. And so with the film, I'm looking to focus the book on the period of time where she is living under curfew with her [00:37:00] mother-in-law during the 2002 incursion of Ramallah. So I'm, looking to kind of focus the story on that, but you know, I still have, I have yet to write that script. So I've been, you know, obviously the last three years have been very full, with my current feature, and I'm continuing to kind of take it out into the world and, and go to festivals and go on pre-release tours, but hopefully I'll get, you know, to writing that script soon and we can see it hopefully out in the world in the next few years.
Tala: We'll be waiting for it.
Cherien: Yeah.
Tala: For all along. But tell us about what you're planning on. Are there any other projects other than Sharon and my Mother-in-Law now that the feature film has been out, uh, out and about? What's your plan for the upcoming couple of years?
Cherien: Well, I have Sharon and my Mother-in-Law, which probably will have a different title by the time we write it and get it out.
But we also, um, I have another book adaptation [00:38:00] called No Land to Light On, which is a really beautiful love story about a couple that is torn apart during Trump's first Muslim ban in 2017. So, um, really beautiful, poetic novel that I am adapting and so that will also be something that I will likely be making in the next few years.
Tala: Is there a book by a Palestinian author that you would also like to bring to the screen?
Cherien: Well, you know, I'm friends with Hala Alyan, and love her work and she and I are talking.
Tala: Nice.
Cherien: So I won't, I won't talk about what book, but, um, but she's, such an amazing person and such a gifted writer. The kind of writer whose work, like, just, you know, when you read it like you're struck with just the truth of her words and you burst into tears. Like that's my experience reading Hala. So, I'm very excited about working with her to hopefully adapt one of her books.
Tala: [00:39:00] Inshallah. Cherien, finally, we would love to know from you what your hopes are for Palestinian cinema or Arab-American cinema, in general.
Cherien: Well, you know, I hope that, um, we just, I hope that we're just getting started, to be honest. You know, I think this is a really great year for Palestinian cinema, and I hope that we're just getting started. I hope that this is just the beginning of a really beautiful, um, movement,you know? And I think Arab-American cinema, I also think is taking off more and more and I think that we're gonna see that in the next few years, you know?
I think there's a lot of really amazing projects in the works. I actually just worked with a really talented first-time director named Sarah Mokh, who's, um, a first time feature. She just shot her first feature. So, I played a part in that and it was a great experience. So that'll be coming out in the next, in the next year or so, inshallah, and, and [00:40:00] there are others.
So, I hope that we can start a really strong tradition of Arab-American cinema as well, as well as, you know, continue the tradition of Palestinian cinema and just make it stronger and stronger.
Tala: Inshallah. We will keep our eyes out. Thank you so much for your time. I really enjoyed the conversation.
Cherien: Thank you. Yeah, me too. Thank you so much for your questions.
Tala: Inshallah we'll meet in person one day.
Cherien: Inshallah. I would love that.