The most relevant thing to know about me is that I, too, have lived in a fog of denial. And I consider waking up from that denial is my life’s work, hence my artist name Indie Nile. Now onto the practical credentials…

I am an award-winning film director & theater maker and now a popular(ish) YouTuber. I call myself a “drag therapist” because I use the art form of drag as a vehicle for my storytelling. The therapy part is because everything I create is rooted in self-examination.

My shows, films and videos are all a form of auto-therapy and because I consciously make myself as vulnerable as possible in those works, my work becomes a form of therapy for those watching as well.
For example, in my last theater show, I played my parents. When exploring the occupation of Palestine on YouTube, I play pro-Palestinian Jewish voices.

I was born in Italy to a Palestinian father and Lebanese mother, raised in Dubai and then trained as a filmmaker in New York before settling down in Amsterdam and starting a career as a drag performance artist.
Before my drag theater journey back, I was an acclaimed documentary filmmaker tackling taboo subjects in a hard-hitting stories. After drag entered the picture, the hard-hitting stuff remains, only now it’s wrapped in a pretty wig, a catchy lipsync and some stand-up comedy.

When you’re at an Indie Nile show or watching an Indie Nile video, you will begin healing your personal wounds without even knowing it because you’ll be too busy being entertained. To quote my favorite philosopher Alan Watts, “I think of myself as a spiritual entertainer”. Emphasis on the entertainer.

Below is a list of my relevant credentials

MY TRAINING & EDUCATION

• Screenwriting Development Grant – Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, 2019
• Filming in Cuba with Werner Herzog, 2017
• Screenwriting Residency @ Cinephilia Inspire Residency in New York, 2016
• Director’s Lab @ Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam, 2012
• Doc Station @ Talent Campus of Berlin Film Festival, 2010
• Greenhouse Documentary Program (Euromed Audiovisual Program), 2010
• Writer’s Lab @ Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam, 2008
• Greenhouse Documentary Program (Euromed Audiovisual Program), 2007
• Filmmaking Diploma @ New York Film Academy in New York City, 2005
• Bachelor of Science in Interior Architecture @ Lebanese American University, 2001