What It Took for Film Director Cherien Dabis to "Find Palestine Everywhere But Palestine"

"I've had people all over the world come to me afterwards and just cry in my arms. For Dabis, who was raised in Ohio, movement and restriction have always been intertwined. At just eight years old, she and her family were held by Israeli soldiers for 12 hours at a border crossing while traveling to the West Bank from Jordan."

"The experience made her understand that Palestinians have always been forced to travel differently, their lives constrained by siege, checkpoints, border crossings, permits, and visa restrictions. Growing up in the States, Dabis says she felt like an outsider, with the question of home eventually becoming less about place than feeling: her mom's voice on the phone, her husband, the feeling of flying 30,000 feet in the air."

"Originally set to shoot in Palestine in late 2023, Dabis and her crew had to relocate after October 7. They rebuilt sets across Cyprus, Greece, and Jordan, filming in a refugee camp within sight of the West Bank. The relocation became a 'spiritual test,' forcing Dabis to transform every obstacle into an opportunity, and to 'find Palestine everywhere but Palestine.'"

Cherien Dabis, a Palestinian-American filmmaker, has toured globally promoting her film All That's Left of You, an Oscar-shortlisted family epic about Palestinian displacement. Raised in Ohio, Dabis experienced border restrictions firsthand at age eight when held by Israeli soldiers at a crossing. These experiences shaped her understanding of Palestinian movement constraints through checkpoints, permits, and visa restrictions. Her concept of home evolved beyond place to encompass feelings and connections. The film explores intergenerational trauma and required relocation from Palestine to Cyprus, Greece, and Jordan after October 7, forcing creative adaptation. Dabis finds meaning in coexisting grief and joy, viewing joy as resistance.

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