Name: Mike Elsherif

Recipient Year: 2024

Description: Mike Elsherif is an award-winning Palestinian-American filmmaker who immigrated to America from Kuwait following the Persian Gulf War. His films deal with themes of displacement, mortality, and the immigrant experience and have been screened at national and international film festivals, including El Gouna, Cucalorus, and Sound of Silent Film. He was recently awarded the Sunbird Stories Production Award by FilmLab Palestine and Cinephilia Productions and the 40 Under 40 Prize by the Arab America Foundation. He's also been a Rawi Fellow at the Rawi Screenwriters Lab in Jordan held by the Royal Film Commission, an Al Smith Fellow selected by the Kentucky Arts Council, a Writer-in- Residence at The New Harmony Project, a COLLIDER Artist-in-Residence through the Louisville Free Public Library, and an Artist-in-Residence at Bernheim Forest and Arboretum. Mike is a graduate of the University of North Carolina - School of the Arts School of Filmmaking with a concentration in Film Directing.

Sponsor: Shireen Abu Akleh Scholarship

LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/mike-elsherif-b5569311