Filmmaker Cherien Dabis joins Siti’s Stories for an honest, layered conversation about representation, intergenerational trauma, and why film became her way of telling stories with care and truth.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• What it was like growing up Arab in small-town America after the Gulf War feeling invisible and hyper-visible at the same time
• Why stories carry real power and how film became Cherien’s way of pushing back against harmful stereotypes
• A reflection on intergenerational trauma and how occupation touches every Palestinian family across generations
• How grief and anger can be transformed into creative work that honors humanity rather than explaining it
• Her latest film, All That’s Left of You, an intergenerational Palestinian film and how its production became a reflection of displacement itself
• A candid conversation about racism in Hollywood and the necessity of building your own spaces when systems refuse entry
• How hearing audiences say “I didn’t know, and now I see” continues to fuel this work

This conversation is about reclaiming narrative; about telling our stories as they are, without translation or permission, and honoring the humanity that has always been there.

🎬 All That’s Left of You - Screenings & Showtimes

https://www.watermelonpictures.com/films/all-thats-left-of-you

Connect with Cherien Dabis

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheriendabis/
Production Company: https://www.visibilityfilms.com

Connect with Siti’s Stories

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sitis.stories/
Website: https://www.sitisstories.com

In this episode, we sit down with multidisciplinary artist and urban planner Dana Barqawi to explore the power of art as resistance, storytelling, and truth-telling.

Dana’s work challenges colonial narratives, honors Indigenous identity, and reflects the interconnectedness of womanhood, history, and community. Her creative process begins with deep research and writing; transforming emotion and lived experience into visual language that speaks across generations.

Topics we explore:
• Art as communication and community-building
• Palestinian identity and Indigenous storytelling
• Womanhood, memory, and intergenerational influence
• Art as resistance to colonial narratives
• Channeling emotion into purpose and movement
• The global interconnectedness of oppression but also freedom

If you’re drawn to Palestinian art, social impact, or creative resistance, this conversation offers a powerful look into how art can mobilize, heal, and hold our collective histories.

🌿 Explore Dana’s work: danabarqawi.com
📸 Connect with Dana on Instagram: Dana_Barqawi

✨ Connect with us:
Website: sitisstories.com Instagram: sitis.stories

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In this tender and deeply grounding episode, we sit with Mai Khader Kakish; storyteller, recipe-keeper, and the heart behind Almond & Fig. 🌿

Mai shares how Almond & Fig began as a way to feel closer to home while her family remained in Palestine; a place to preserve her teta’s recipes and document the stories, wisdom, and traditions woven into every dish. For Mai, food is not just nourishment; it is storytelling, resistance, and the inheritance of a people who survived unimaginable loss.

This episode was recorded during some of the darkest days of the ongoing genocide before any aid was allowed in and at the height of starvation and you can feel both the weight and the warmth in our conversation. We let the episode begin exactly as it unfolded: raw, unfiltered, and honest.

Together, we delve into:
• Preserving ancestral recipes and the love tucked into every little “hastak”
• Armenian–Palestinian lineage, generational survival, and carrying forward what others tried to erase
• Food as memory, identity, resistance, and inheritance
• The grief of losing our grandmothers and keeping their stories alive 🤍
• How food is being intentionally weaponized and the devastating impact of forced starvation
• The work Mai does with the Seraj Library Project

This conversation is about the women who raised us, the hands that fed us, and the ways we continue to carry them; through recipes, memory, and heritage preservation

📚For more about the Seraj Library Project and ways to support, visit serajlibraries.org
Follow Mai at @almondandfig for recipes, heritage, and storytelling.
Stay connected with us: @sitis.stories • sitisstories.com