NHK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL + Sundance Institute/NHK Award
2011
 "May in the Summer" |
May in the Summer
2013/USA=Qatar=Jordan/98min
A dramatic comedy set in Jordan where ancient tradition, burgeoning modernity and Western imitation collide, May in the Summer follows the secrets, lies and loves of three Arab American sisters and their strong-willed, single mom.
MAY lands in Amman where she's reunited with her mom NADINE and younger sisters DALIA and YASMINE. In the midst of planning her summer wedding, May has one slight problem: a devout Christian, Nadine thoroughly disapproves of her Muslim fiancé. As if that's not bad enough, the fiancé then calls the wedding off! Too shaken to admit that it didn't work out, May keeps her broken engagement a secret and attempts to put her relationship back on track.
Meanwhile, May's sisters convince her to help them find their mom a new husband. Though Nadine plays along, May starts to suspect she already has a special someone...
[DIRECTOR]
Cherien Dabis
Born in Omaha, Nebraska to Palestinian Jordanian immigrants, Cherien Dabis is an award-winning feature filmmaker who received her M.F.A. in film from Columbia University. She wrote, directed, produced and edited several short films including Make A Wish (2006), which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival as well as Clermont-Ferrand where it won the Prix de la Presse and Mention Spéciale du Jury. The film went on to win top awards in Dubai, Rotterdam, Cairo, Chicago and Aspen. Dabis worked for three seasons as a writer and co-producer on Showtime's groundbreaking, original hit television series The L Word before going on to make her feature writing and directorial debut with Amreeka.
Amreeka (2009) world-premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (2009), opened New York's New Director's/New Films at the MoMA (2009) and won the prestigious FIPRESCI award in the Director's Fortnight at Cannes (2009). It was nominated for a Best Picture Gotham Award (2009), 3 Independent Spirit Awards (2010), including Best Picture and was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of the Year by the National Board of Review (2009). The same year, Dabis was also named one of Variety's "Ten Directors to Watch." Amreeka was released theatrically to worldwide critical acclaim and was chosen as one of only five American films to take part in the Sundance Institute's inaugural Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue initiative, an international cinematic cultural exchange and diplomacy program.
A USA Rockefeller Fellow (2010) and winner of the Humanitas Prize (2009) as well as the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award (2009), Dabis is an alumnus of the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab (2005, 2010), Film Independent Director's Lab (2005) and Tribeca All Access (2007), where she was honored with the first ever L'Oréal Paris Woman of Worth Vision Award. In support of her work, she has received generous grants from National Geographic, the Jerome Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, the Tribeca Film Institute and the Sundance Institute.
May in the Summer, her second feature, world-premiered at 2013 Sundance Film Festival as US Competition Opener. Cherien wrote, directed, and starred in the film.
