Safina Filmmaker Fellowship for Palestinian filmmakers.
Applications for the 2025 Safina Filmmaker Fellowship are now closed. Please sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on future opportunities.
2025 Safina Fellowship Winners & Honorees
Ziyad Saadi
Vancouver, Canada
Fellow
Ziyad a writer and filmmaker based in Vancouver, Canada. He is a Nicholl Fellowship semi-finalist and winner of the MPAC Hollywood Bureau pilot writing competition. He has contributed to Indiewire, The Independent, and The Gay & Lesbian Review, and his debut novel, THREE PARTIES, will be released by Penguin Random House in August 2025. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Concordia University
Dana Attari
Los Angeles, CA
Fellow
Dana is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. Born in Amman, Jordan, she spent her formative years in the Middle East before moving to the United States. Drawing from such interests as her family’s diasporic history, the power of everyday resistance and the limits of memory, she writes grounded dramas that flirt with the edges of realism. She is a 2021 Page Awards Finalist for her one hour pilot The Architect.
Jameeleh is a native Chicagoan and proud Southsider. She is an Emmy award-winning writer, producer, and performer. She attended Columbia College (Chicago) where she earned a B.A. in Television Writing and Production. Jameeleh has produced for TBS, Comedy Central, HGTV and TLC. Jameeleh is the former Executive Director of the Chicago Palestine Film Festival and author of Laith the Lion Goes to Palestine, and Sayf’s Eid Adventure.
Jameeleh Shelo
Chicago, IL
Fellow
Areej Khourieh
Shefa’amr, Palestine
Honoree
Areej is a burgeoning screenwriter and filmmaker from Shefa’amr Palestine. By day, she is a data Operations Analyst with a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics, and has a passion for documenting Palestinian stories for future generations to come.
Tariq Ra'ouf
Seattle, WA
Honoree
Tariq is a Palestinian American filmmaker based in Seattle, who just recently embraced his heritage, after spending two decades calling himself Kyle, and idolizing American culture. He hopes to use film and storytelling as a kindling to ignite in audiences the same fire that has fueled his own journey back home.