Palestinian director makes history with Emmy nomination for ‘outstanding directing’

Palestinian-American director Cherien Dabis made TV history last month with her nomination for "Outstanding Directing" on "Only Murders in the Building," hailed as a landmark moment for Palestinian representation.   

Dabis, who grew up between rural Ohio, Amman and the occupied West Bank, received the prestigious accolade for her work directing "The Boy From 6B" from the Hulu series. 

The episode was acclaimed for its use of non-verbal storytelling to represent the experiences of a deaf character who becomes instrumental in the plot-twisting who-done-it hit TV show. 

“[Only Murders in the Building] was precisely the kind of story that excites me, a story told from a point of view we rarely get to see, portraying a character from a community that’s underrepresented and misrepresented,” the director told Variety magazine on Tuesday. 

“I’ve built my career upon telling stories about marginalised communities, and by doing so, I’ve attempted to push us all out of the margins and into the centre.” 

You’re too kind @FilmSnork ! Thank you so much for the shout out and the great conversation! 🙏🏽💛 https://t.co/LwHSSd6QLM

— Cherien Dabis (@CherienDabis) August 17, 2022

Dabis cut her teeth directing “Amreeka,” a drama-comedy series centred on a Palestinian-American family in the occupied West Bank and post-9/11 urban Chicago. The feature was awarded the coveted FIPRESCI prize at Cannes and went on to win a dozen more international awards. 

After her initial success, she went on to produce "Ramy", which followed the story of an Egyptian-American in New Jersey and also received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. 

Dabis wrote in Variety that Arabs were often “dangerously misrepresented” in TV and film, and that this translated to offscreen abuse that she and her family had experienced firsthand. 

She said her aim is to offer a more “authentic representation” of marginalised communities. 

The Palestinian told the podcast Filmwax recently that she is working on two future films: a subversive comedy with political undertones as well as a Palestinian family epic about three generations and their connection to their land. 

‘Only Murders in the Building’ received 17 Emmy nominations in total this year.