BABA I’M FINE
A teen battles heartbreak while spending Friday out with her father.
Post-Production | USA | Narrative | 13 minutes | English
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY KARINA DANDASHI
PRODUCED BY STEPHEN TURSELLI AND DAN DUTHIE
As someone born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, BABA I’M FINE explores a father daughter story close to my heart and hometown. My relationship with my Syrian Muslim immigrant father was complicated - we were best friends but at the same time, I hid major personal things like heartbreak. I was ultimately afraid of his disapproval, and ruining our idyllic “ignorance is bliss” relationship.
- Karina Dandashi
TEAM
Karina Dandashi
Writer / Director
Karina Dandashi is a Syrian-American filmmaker born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Her films explore nuances in identity through the intersection of family, religion, and culture in Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) communities in America. Karina is a 2020 Creative Culture Fellow at The Jacob Burns Film Center and a 2021 Sundance Ignite Fellow. She was featured in Marie Claire’s inaugural Creators Issue as one of the “Top 21 Creators to Watch'' in 2022. Her feature film debut, OUT OF WATER, was chosen for the 2023 Film Independent Screenwriting Lab. You can find her latest short COUSINS on The New Yorker’s Screening Room.
Tehillah de Castro
Cinematographer
Tehillah De Castro, an LA-based cinematographer and Chapman University alum. Over the past eight years, she has worked on an impressive 58 projects, collaborating on films and music videos with some of the industry's biggest names. She is known for How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022), Tahara (2022) and Grace (Sundance 2024).
Stephen Turselli & Dan Duthie
Producers
Stephen and Dan are a filmmakers from Pittsburgh, PA. They write, direct, and produce films under their banner Solano Pictures.
Ayah
Executive Producer
Ayah is a Palestinian-American producer based in Brooklyn, NY. She is a Film Independent Producing Lab and The Gotham/Rotterdam Lab fellow. Ayah founded 10 Mils Productions, through which she leverages her business background, the power of story, and her commitment to representation in the media to support storytellers from her communities. She produced Karina Dandashi’s DRESS UP (Short of the Week) and COUSINS (The New Yorker/Vimeo Staff Pick).