Palestinian you should know: Rolla Selbak
The following was originally published in the Palestine in America Film Edition. Please support our work by ordering a print copy, downloading a digital edition or becoming a subscriber.
Rolla Selbak is a self-taught filmmaker known for featuring strong female characters in her work. Selback has come a long way since the humble days of her first film, which was shot by a crew she hired from Craigslist.
Most notably, her name has been attached to short films Finjan and Choke, and she has projects in development with 20th Century Studios and Sony. In addition to her work in film, she has also served on the board of directors at OUTFEST and the San Francisco Women’s Film Institute.
Selbak joined the Palestine in America podcast to discuss how she became a filmmaker and what she’s currently working on.
Palestine in America (PiA): Where are your parent(s) from in Palestine?
Rolla Selbak (RS): My father and his family (Selbak) are from Shifa Amr.My mom's family (Abu-Hamdah) is from Jerusalem. My dad and his family ended up refuging to Lebanon, and my mom's family eventually ended up in Saudi Arabia.
PiA: What’s your earliest memory of a movie or show that resonated with you?
RS: Growing up in Abu Dhabi, we would get hummus sandwiches for a dirham at this dukkan called Al Kamal, and leaf through binders of bootleg TV shows and movies. That's where I watched all the classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Sound of Music, “The Simpsons,” Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. My siblings and I watched those on repeat.
We'd also watch the popular Arabic-language shows and movies starring the likes of Adel Imam, Sameer Ghanem, Soheir El Bably, Duraid Lahham, and of course we couldn't wait for the Ramadan programming, especially when Sherihan was starring. Special shout-out to my favorite Kuwaiti stage play, “Bye Bye London,” which was also on repeat.
PiA: When did you decide you were going to pursue your dream of being in the arts?
RS: Growing up, I was absolutely obsessed with our family’s VHS camcorder that my parents brought home for birthday parties, celebrations, etc. I would dress up my siblings in funny outfits and make music videos, skits, commercials, all sorts of stuff.
After the first Gulf War, we came to the U.S, and that was just when the golden era of American Indie cinema was getting started. The movie El Mariachi by Robert Rodriguez had just come out. That was the movie that made me feel like filmmaking was something I could actually pursue. It wasn't just the film itself, but the fact that Rodriquez had made the film for $7K using his home recording equipment.
That's when I started reading every book I could get my hands on [to learn] how to write scripts and how to make movies. After a while, I found that the books all said the same thing: We can teach you theory, but it's not until you actually go out and make movies that you'll truly learn. And so I did.
I had no idea what I was doing at first. I literally got my first crew offCraigslist and didn't know what half of the positions were. But after training myself on a bunch of short films and teaching myself to edit, I graduated to making features. Then TV. And I just kept going.
PiA: Is there an experience you’ve endured that highlights the Palestinian experience in the film industry?
RS: Two come to mind. The firs, is the awful amount of job propositions I have gotten over the years to come on board a project to "humanize" the experience of a "Palestinian terrorist." Or wanting to hire me to write the character of a terrorist's wife or sister. I've also been seeing a renewed demand for 9/11-themed movies and TV shows going into development. I've turned down all of them of course, but it still stings when you realize that we have a long way to go as Palestinians, and as Arabs in general.
The second is a more hopeful experience. Lately, I've also had much more enthusiasm and demand for films and TV from an authentically Palestinian point of view, thanks to TV shows like “Ramy” and “Mo” and movies like Farha. I never thought I would see the day, I really didn't, and I cannot believe I get the privilege to witness our rise on our own terms within the TV and cinema landscape. So my hope is that the more we show the world we can tell our stories in a compelling, entertaining and thought-provoking way, the more we will shine on the world stage.
