Yesterday Bwog wrote about Courtney Hunt’s (SoA ’94) Academy-recognized success. Now, another MFA grad, Cherien Dabis (SoA ’04), is recieving acclaim at Sundance for her first feature film, Amreeka.

Amreeka (the Arabic word for America) focuses on a Palestinian woman who takes her son to the United States right before the recent invasion of Iraq, and the struggles once they get there. Dabis, a Palestinian-American who until now was best known as part of staff behind the The L Word, based the story in part on her experiences growing up in Kansas during the first Gulf War.

While the film is still looking for a distributor, it has recieved both audience and critical acclaim, with The Hollywood Reporter saying Dabis “has thoroughly re-energized the genre with refreshing wit, honest emotions, incisive observations and a perfect cast she literally flew around the world to find.” No doubt the MFA program is ordering new admissions pamphlets pronto.