Weekend with Cherien Dabis: ‘Learning to let go allowed me to feel peace in my life’
The director and actor on weekend walks in New York, tea ceremonies and her latest film All That’s Left of You
Cherien Dabis is a Palestinian-American film-maker and actor who lives in New York. She is known for starring as Nadia in Mo Amer’s critically acclaimed Netflix series Mo. Behind the camera, she has directed episodes of Ozark, Ramy and Only Murders in the Building, for which she was nominated for an Emmy.
Her latest film, All That’s Left of You, is out now in UK and Irish cinemas. Dabis directs as well as stars in the film, which tells the story of a displaced Palestinian family over the course of several decades.
All That’s Left of You premiered at Sundance in 2025 and is nominated for the 2026 Independent Spirit Awards.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What does your ideal Friday evening look like?
My husband is an actor as well, so we watch a lot of movies, especially at this time of year as it’s award season. On a typical Friday night we go out to the cinema or watch something at home. I also go to a meditation class.
How do you find meditation?
One of the things I take away is that happiness cannot be found outside, it has to be found in one’s own heart. We are always scrambling to change our conditions in the world to find happiness, but learning to let go allowed me to feel more peace in my life.
In relation to my film, it ends with this little moment of peace between a couple that has survived so much. That’s all we can ever do at the end of the day: find that little nugget of inner peace and be grateful that we are still standing despite everything that we have been through.
What else helps you find peace on the weekend?
I love to get out into nature. We live in Brooklyn and we are close to Prospect Park, which is one of my favourite parks in New York. It’s really beautiful and designed by the same architect who did Central Park — Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux — but it was his more “wild” version. It feels like you are hiking in the forest somewhere. I’ve been going on weekend walks there for years.
After the walk?
My husband has gotten really into tea ceremonies and he gets these amazing teas from China and Taiwan. So we’ll go out to a tea shop or do a tea ceremony at home.
What exactly is a tea ceremony?
There’s a whole ritual behind it, you’re supposed to drink the first few cups in silence, just to really connect with the tea leaves. It’s actually really beautiful. Some of these teas are hundreds of years old, so the leaves carry a particular energy or imprint.
What’s your favourite tea?
Favourite places to eat in New York?
We live in North Park Slope, where you walk out to amazing coffee shops and restaurants everywhere.
There’s a Lebanese place on the corner called Sawa that’s really good. One of my other favourites is Tanoreen. It’s Palestinian-owned and really known for their home cooking.
What did you learn from making All That’s Left of You?
It took a tremendous amount of patience just to make it. This film required me to become a leader in a way that I had never experienced before. I learned so much about what I’m capable of.
We were supposed to start filming on 21 October 2023. We were two weeks away from shooting and we had done months of prep in Palestine when we had to evacuate and figure out whether to wait or start over somewhere else.
Where did you end up filming?
Most of the film is shot in Jordan in the Palestinian refugee camps in the north, and we shot a small portion in Cyprus and another small portion in Greece. We also did some remote shooting in Palestine, where I was directing via FaceTime.
What was it like making this film about life under occupation while Gaza was under attack?
It was surreal, like art and life were converging. It was so parallel. It made for a really emotionally intense experience. The good thing was that we had the film to channel all of our anger, our grief, our love and compassion into.
There’s a scene in All That’s Left Of You where an imam speaks about holding onto humanity as a form of resistance. Can you explain the importance of this message?
I think it’s so important that we see that the systems of oppression are trying to dehumanise us by filling us with rage and hatred. By holding on to our humanity and allowing ourselves to remain vulnerable and feel our pain, we can move through what’s happening.
It’s also a reminder that anger is really easy. Who doesn’t feel it right now with everything happening in the world? But I think it’s important that we don’t allow ourselves to stay there.
All That’s Left of You is now in UK and Irish cinemas.
