Thank you Darine Hotait for including my feature film Come Home With Me in the 5th cohort for Cinephilia Production’s Feature Lab. This four month incubator program features mentors from some of the most relevant world cinema of the past few years including Cyril Aris (A Sad Beautiful World), Leah Chen Baker (The President’s Cake), Jen Blake (A Sad Beautiful World), Theodora Dunlap (Robot & Frank 2012), Kelly Peck (The Son and the Sea) and script coach Brad Saunders alongside Darine Hotait, producer and founder of Cinephilia Productions.

Wow! What a gift to join these amazing mentors alongside Juanpedro David Salazar and Ella Vance, who I met in last year’s production workroom, while also getting to know filmmakers Nour Alkhadra, Najla Barouni, Arom Choi, Danielle Fuller, Nicole De Meneses and Francisco Salazar. It is my honor to be included in this group with such driven, talented storytellers.

Founded in 2010 by writer and film director Darine Hotait, Cinephilia Productions is a New York–based film production company, development studio, and talent incubator dedicated to championing filmmakers from Africa, the Arab world, Southwest Asia, and Latin America. Through its incubator programs and development initiatives, Cinephilia has supported the creation of over 600 film projects, trained more than 5,000 filmmakers, and collaborated with leading international film festivals to launch industry programs. Through mentorship, training, and production initiatives, the company empowers emerging and underrepresented filmmakers to bring bold, authentic narratives to the global screen.

A dramatic feature length motion picture, Come Home With Me, follows an Arab American girl as she falls into an obsessive relationship with her high school crush when he deploys to Iraq after September 11th. Learn more at ComeHomeWithMeFilm.com or donate to support the project via fiscal sponsor Denver Film.