Cherien Dabis is a director, producer, and screenwriter, whose work is informed by her Palestinian American immigrant experiences. She attended the University of Cincinnati and Columbia University. Dabis has written and directed a feature and two short films, including Make a Wish (2006), about a Palestinian girl who faces enormous obstacles to buy a birthday cake, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and won several awards. In her feature, Amreeka (2009), a Palestinian woman immigrates to the U.S. in search of a better future for her son. That film won several awards and was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of 2009 by the National Board of Review. Dabis has also worked as a television screenwriter.