Dania Bdeir, 35, was born in Canada to Syrian parents who had fled the civil war in Lebanon. In addition to inheriting a Syrian accent from her parents, she also had a profound interest in the region, which would draw her back, time after time. In 2020, she moved to the Middle East for good, making the UAE her home. 

“I did it for love,” she laughs. “My boyfriend – now husband – lived here, and I knew I wanted to spend my life with him. I also knew I wanted to be in the region, and be closer to home, because this is where my stories, and heart, were.”

And Bdeir is indeed a master storyteller, gaining critical acclaim with her short film, Warsha, which tells the unexpected and poignant story of a Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut. It won the prestigious Jury Prize for Best International Fiction Short at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022 and was then short-listed for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. She may not have taken home an Oscar, but her mantelpiece is heavily decorated with the over 120 other awards the film has won. Warsha, which has been screened at more than 340 film festivals around the world, may be about a man, the exploration of his masculinity and the way that narrative unfolds definitely reveals a woman’s touch.

“We need female directors and more women working in film for the same reason why it’s important to have female presence everywhere – we’re half the population, and each successful woman out there inspires an entire generation of others,” Bdeir concludes.

Follow @daniabdeir to keep up-to-date with her projects.