has written, directed and produced [Once Upon a Time], The Day After Tomorrow, and Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce, the experimental Fly’s Eye, and the documentaries Ferdosi and Situation. Her credits include work as editor, cinematographer, producer, production designer and script supervisor. She has served as a referee for film festivals at Tehran University, and is the author of a collection of short stories [It Passes You By] and the play Irani Eyd. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.
2011 Resident
filmmaker
Fabienne KANOR (novelist, filmmaker; France) is the author of four novels, including Les Chiens ne font pas des chats (2008) and Anticorps (2010), as well as the children’s novel Le Jour où la mer a disparu (2008). She received the Fetkann Award for her novel D’Eaux Douces (2004), and the RFO Literary Award for Humus (2006). Kanor has also made a number of short documentaries and films, including C’est qui l’homme?, winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the Angers Film Festival in 2008. She has worked as a reporter at France 3, , Radio Nova (Paris), and International French Radio RFI. She is completing her fifth novel and a screenplay for the feature-length film Derriére le morne. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2011 Resident
filmmaker, poet
Hind SHOUFANI (poet, filmmaker; Jordan) was born to Palestinian parents in Lebanon and lives in Dubai. Shoufani has made a number of short films and documentaries, and is now at work on the documentary Journey in Migration (2011) and the feature-length This War on Love. She has been a film instructor in Jordan and Lebanon, and written on the arts for the Beirut newspapers The Daily Star and The Guide. The author of two volumes of poetry, More Light Than Death Could Bear (2007) and Inkstains on the Edge of Light (2010), she is also the founder of The Poeticians, a group that hosts multilingual poetry and spoken word events in Amman, Beirut and Dubai. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2011 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker
Marvin VICTOR (fiction writer, filmmaker; Haiti) has worked on a number of documentaries, shorts and feature-length films, including the 2009 adaptation of Kathy Acker's novel Kathy Goes To Haiti, and taught creative writing courses for Fondation Culture Création. In 2011 he has published the novel Corps mêlés (Gallimard, Paris), and his short fiction has been included in the collection Hasdf Haiti Noir; earlier, his articles have appeared in the magazine Conjonction. He is the recipient of the 2008 Young Francophone Writers Award and the 2011 Grand Prix du Roman de la Société des Gens de Lettres. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2011 Resident
activist, filmmaker, poet
Cho Tu ZAW (novelist, filmmaker, poet, essayist, activist; Myanmar)after years of political organizing, has more than twenty screenwriting and directing credits, including [Another Lonely World] (2010), [The Lost] (2011) and, most recently, [Let's Make A Dialogue on Love] (2011). He is the author of the novels, [Some Used to Hate] (2006] and [Once Upon a Time in Ganges] (2010); his poems and articles have been featured in a number of magazines.
2013 Resident
filmmaker, poet
Sawsan AL-AREEQE (poet, filmmaker; Yemen) is the author of three poetry collections [The Square of Pain] (2007), [More Than Necessary] (2004), and [What if My Blood Turned Into Chocolate] (2011); English translations of her poems have appeared in the journal Banipal. She is the winner of the British Council’s 2010 Zoom Film Contest for her short Prohibited, and of the Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Meknes International Film Festival for her short Photo.
2013 Resident
children's author, fiction writer, filmmaker, poet
Sridala SWAMI (poet, fiction writer, children’s writer; India) is the author of the poetry collection A Reluctant Survivor (2007), and four children’s books. Her creative and critical work has been published and anthologized in Wasafiri, The South Asian Review, Her Kind (the VIDA blog), and The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry, among others. Swami has been a film editor and teacher, curated a radio program “The Poetry Mohalla,” is at work on an international collaborative writing project titled Chirality, and on the text/image project ‘V’ is for Valley; she is also preparing a collection of interviews with contemporary Indian poets. Her second poetry volume, Escape Artist, is forthcoming. Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2014 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, non-fiction writer, playwright
Bernice CHAULY (poet, nonfiction and fiction writer, playwright, filmmaker; Malaysia) is the author of the poetry collections going there and coming back (1997), The Book of Sins (2008), and Onkalo (2013), the short-fiction book Lost in KL (2008) and the memoir Growing Up With Ghosts (2011), winner of the 2012 Reader's Choice Awards for non-fiction. Her award-winning films have screened at international film festivals. Chauly is a co-founder of Rhino Press and of Malaysia’s longest-running literary platform Readings, and the curator of the George Town Literary Festival; she teaches creative writing at Taylor’s University. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2015 Resident
filmmaker, poet, translator
Marie SILKEBERG (poet, translator, nonfiction writer, filmmaker; Sweden) is the author of seven poetry collections, including 23:23 (2006) and Material (2010), and the essay volume Avståndsmätning (2005). Among her translations are those of Inger Christensen and Rosemarie Waldrop; she also collaborates with musicians on text and sound compositions and poetry films. A recipient of a number of awards, the 2013 Marin Sorescu Prize most recently, she teaches literary composition at the University of Southern Denmark. Her participation is made possible by the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund
2015 Resident
filmmaker, screenwriter
Polen LY (screenwriter; Cambodia) has written, directed and produced several short films, including [Red Ink] (2014) and [Colourful Knots] (2014), which won the first prize at the 2015 Tropfest SEA film festival in Malaysia. Among his documentaries are [Gone with the Water] (2012), the winner of the 2012 science film festival in Bangkok, Thailand, and [A Daughter’s Scars] (2013). His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2015 Resident
filmmaker, screenwriter
Byambaa SAKHIYA (screenwriter, filmmaker, producer; Mongolia), a graduate of the State Film School VGIK in Moscow, is a documentary and fiction filmmaker with a long record of collaboration on international film productions. His documentary Passion (2011) won main prizes at film festivals in Asia, the Americas, and Europe; his first feature, Remote Control, was supported by the Hubert Bals Script Development Fund, and received the New Current Award at the 2013 Busan International Film Festival. He is the co-founder of Ulaanbatar-based Guru Media. His residency is made possible by the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbatar.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, visual artist
Mortada GZAR مرتضى كزار (novelist, filmmaker, visual artist; Iraq) has an engineering degree from the University of Baghdad. The films he wrote, directed, and shot have been featured in international festivals; his animated “Language” won the Doha Film Award. He has three novels: [Broom of Paradise] (2008), [Sayyid Asghar Akbar] (2013), and [My Beautiful Cult] (2016), and is a regular contributor to the Lebanese newspaper al-Safir al-Arabiandis. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker
Dilman DILA (fiction writer, filmmaker; Uganda) is the author of three volumes, The Flying Man of Stone, A Killing in the Sun and Cranes Crest at Sunset, shortlisted for the 2016 Gerald Kraak Award and the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. His The Felistas Fable was the Film of the Year at the 2014 Uganda Film Festival; What Happened in Room 13 has had six million views on YouTube; he regularly produces science fiction films for his YouTube channel. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, playwright, screenwriter
Santiago GIRALT (playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, fiction writer; Argentina) writes plays, screenplays, and novels, and directs films. In 2017, he was awarded the National Arts Fund Bi-Centennial Grant in Literature. His first novel, [Nelly R, the General’s Lover], was shortlisted for the 2008 Planeta International Prize; La mala memoria came out in 2015; Disparo is forthcoming. He has written and directed over a dozen films, and participated in many international film festivals. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, non-fiction writer, poet, translator
Kristian Sendon CORDERO (poet, fiction writer, essayist, translator, filmmaker; Philippines) writes in Filipino, Bikol and Rinconada, and has translated Borges, Kafka, Wilde and Rilke to these languages. Two of his most recent poetry collections received the 2014 National Book Awards; his debut collection of poetry in his three respective languages won the Madrigal-Gonzales Best First Book Award in 2006. He is the deputy director of the Ateneo de Naga University Press. His participation is courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, screenwriter
Iva PEZUASHVILI (novelist, screenwriter, filmmaker; Georgia) is the author of two story collections, most recently [The Book of Tbilisi] (2017). A filmmaker by training, he has written and/or directed a number of short films, animated series, and season-long TV dramas. The recipient of several awards, most recently he was the “best nominee” for the Tsinandali Best Prose Prize. His participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.
2019 Resident
activist, editor, filmmaker, poet
ARAI Takako 新井 高子 (poetry; Japan) has published three poetry collections, including Tamashii dansu [Soul Dance] which won the 2008 Oguma Hideo Prize. Since 1998, she has been an editor for the poetry journal Mi’Te; she has also edited a volume of poems about, and is producing a film connected to, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan. The poetry volume Factory Girls is forthcoming in English. Arai teaches Japanese and poetry at Saitama University. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2019 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, poet, screenwriter
Soukaina HABIBALLAH (poetry, fiction, screenwriting; Morocco) has four poetry collections and one novel [The Barracks] (2016), with a second novel forthcoming in 2019. Habiballah has received many awards including, in 2015, the Buland Al Haidari Prize for Arabic poetry, and the 2019 Nadine Shames Prize for Arab Screenwriters for her short film [Who Left the Door Open?]. Her poetry has been translated into seven languages (including English). Ms. Habiballah participates courtesy the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State
2019 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, non-fiction writer, playwright
Amira-Géhanne KHALFALLAH (fiction, nonfiction, drama; Algeria) is a journalist, novelist, filmmaker, and playwright. Her plays Les draps [Sheets] and Shams et les poissons du désert [Shams and the Desert Fish] have been published; her debut novel Le naufrage de la lune [The Wreck of the Moon] appeared in 2018; her short film Essebat [The Shoe] screened at several international festivals; a feature film is in development. She participates through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2019 Resident
activist, editor, filmmaker, non-fiction writer, performance artist, poet, translator
Roy Chicky ARAD רועי צ'יקי ארד (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, performance; Israel) is an activist, musician/performer and writer, with eight published volumes of poetry and prose. He edits the poetry magazine Ma'ayan, translates, largely poetry, and writes for the daily Ha’aretz. The Culture Guerilla group, which he co-founded, takes poetry into Israeli streets. He participates courtesy of Fulbright Israel.
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