Dabis, 2025 Variety International Vanguard Director Award winner, lauded for her fearless work at the event.
Cherien Dabis, director of All That’s Left of You, has been awarded the Variety International Vanguard Director Award at the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF). The honour recognises filmmakers whose work transcends borders and inspires new creative voices, reinforcing the festival’s role in spotlighting global cinema alongside its regional focus.
Dabis’s latest film, All That’s Left of You, is a sweeping Palestinian historical drama set to release in 2025. Written, produced and directed by Dabis, the film follows a family’s story across three generations, tracing their experiences from 1948 to 2022. Through deeply personal narratives tied to key moments in Palestinian history, the film explores themes of the Nakba, displacement and resilience. The ensemble cast includes Saleh Bakri, Adam Bakri, Mohammad Bakri, Mohammad Abd Elrahman, Maria Zreik and Dabis herself.
A pioneering voice in Arab American cinema, Dabis first gained international acclaim with her debut feature Amreeka, which premiered at Sundance in 2009 and won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at Cannes. Her second feature, May in the Summer, marked her acting debut and opened the 2013 Sundance Film Festival before screening in Venice.
Beyond her film work, Dabis has directed notable episodes of major series such as Hulu’s Ramy and Netflix’s Ozark. In 2022, she became the first Palestinian to receive an Emmy nomination for her dialogue-free episode of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Her acting credits include roles in Netflix’s Mo, Amazon Prime’s Fallout and Tarek Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic, which competed at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
